Adapt
by aliceeeebeth
Summary: A re-write of Season 6. AU from 6x04. Mini/Alo. What if Mini had left for Australia with her dad, with the baby that nobody knew about? What if, 2 years later, when she returned for her mother's wedding, Alo still wasn't prepared to let her go?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey metal head._

_I know that this is probably a surprise, and hell I don't even know if it's the right address, but I wanted to tell you something. I know you probably hate me for leaving Alo, and I shouldn't even ask you for a favour, but don't let him know in any way the contents of this email._

_Not long after I left… I got pregnant. With a guy who wasn't even that interested in me. I've had a kid, Rich. A baby girl. And I decided to call her Grace. She's the most perfect thing ever, you would never be able to understand how much I love her._

_Like I said, don't tell Alo. I just wanted you to know that I'm never going to forget about Grace. And if Grace can end up with a guy that made her half as happy as you made our Grace… well I'll be content._

_I hope Cambridge is going good for you, maybe I'll see you soon – whenever my mum actually decides to set a date for the wedding!_

_Lotsa love, Mini and little Gracie._

Rich realised that, over the course of reading the email, his mouth had fallen open and he now had that horrible dry feeling, like his tongue was made out of sandpaper. Mini McGuinness, who had upped and left over 2 years ago, had got into contact with Rich of all people, to tell him that she was a mum. She was 19, and a mother. With a girl. It obviously wasn't Alo's, so Rich wouldn't have brought his best friend down like that even if Mini had asked him to.

He couldn't quite comprehend why Mini felt the need to tell him. Of course it was incredibly lovely that the baby was called Grace – a way of carrying on her legacy or something, but… wait, did Liv know? It had been months since the metal head had spoken to any of the Bristol gang, and he was supposed to be returning in a month, after he'd packed up all of his stuff. He was currently looking to get a first, and every so often he would stop and smile, thinking of Grace looking down on him and being proud.

But back to the matter in hand. Mini, who had always never been able to understand why her own mother had kept her when she was still just a child herself, was a mum. Mini, who had proven that night that she didn't give a shit about Alo (at least, from what the ginger had told him through a tearful and frankly girly phone call), then left him without as much as a goodbye. Then left all of them.

She'd left behind Grace, too. Not looking back or making any effort to visit or keep in contact. She could've been dead for the past 2 years and nobody would've known. Rich had never particularly liked Mini. She'd treated Alo and him like shit, treated everyone like they were beneath her, and then fucked with Alo's heart. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that the ginger would fall for her in about three seconds if she offered him sex, and yet she still did it.

But even though he hated her, he wanted to know why she had done it. Got in contact _now, _rather than when she got pregnant, or when she had the baby… and there was two ways he could find out. Either reply to the Queen Bitch, or…

**L – I just got an email from Mini. – R**

Liv's phone buzzed just as she left for work. Well, does it count as work if she wasn't getting paid? She got accommodation and food and friendship and the overwhelming feeling that she was making a difference in the world, and knowing that she was slowly ending up qualified to be a social worker… that was better than any proper job. She expected the text to be her daily update from Alex, who had buggered off since they'd had their gap year together.

He'd been there for her when nobody else was. He'd helped her through the grieving process, either by being a shoulder to cry on or a way to let off steam in the form of the whore wars. So when he decided to leave for Thailand, it was a no brainer. Sure, universities had given her offers, but what was the point when she didn't know what she wanted to really do, didn't know who she really was? She was the slut of the Bristol gang, and nobody would see her as anything other.

When Mini left… well, it had all changed. Alex was still there, but nobody else really wanted to put up with her. She'd tried to drink the pain away, but after that cancer scare, she knew that she had to calm down. So she started making arrangements for their gap year, determined that it wouldn't just be a 365 day long booze up.

Mini left her a letter after she left. For the first time in a while, Mini had let Liv in… but it was too late. Not too late for their friendship, but too late for all to be forgotten. Mini had fucked off and that would make it impossible for the nightly phone calls, for the cocaine taking and the drinking and the general reckless behaviour. But Liv knew. About the baby. And she guessed straight away that was what Rich was texting her about.

**R – omg she told u didn't she? She said she was going 2, but i didn't think she would. – L**

_Liv._

_I love you. First and foremost, I want to say that. I know that losing Grace tore us apart, but I still love you. You're my best friend and I don't want that to change, even though I know that it's inevitable. This letter is important for you to keep secret. If anyone finds out… I'm screwed._

_I've gone to Australia with Gregory. You probably won't understand why. It's not because of you, or Gracie, or Frankie, or… well, it's not his fault but I'm leaving because he wants me to. Alo and I have been fucking since Morocco. And he fucking got me pregnant. I'm 17 years old and pregnant, and fucking terrified. I thought Gregory was going to fuck off but he didn't. He's made it clear that I'm going to have to sort it all out on my own, but he's given me accommodation and a bit of starter cash._

_I'm pregnant, Liv. And because of that I hurt Alo. And because I hurt Alo, I don't want to force him to have me in his life forever. So don't tell him. Don't tell anyone._

_Lotsa love, Mins x_

Liv had watched Gracie grow up, through pictures and Skype chats and it had been wonderful. Gracie was the spitting image of Mini, except with the reddest hair she had ever seen. Anyone who saw her would just be able to tell that it was Alo's. Probably the nostrils, too… But when Mini had told her that she was going to contact Rich to let him know, Liv had promised to go along with the lie that the baby was in no way, shape, or form, Alo's.

**L – you knew and you didn't tell anyone? She fucked off and left us all and you're still keeping secrets for her. – R**

**R – don't be a dick, u don't care that she left. u only care cause Alo was upset. nd it's been good 4 him. With Mins around he probs wudn't b where he is now. Besides, you can sort it out w/ Mins when shes here nxt month. – L**

Alo groaned as his alarm went off. Now he was officially in charge of the farm he had to wake up before even the cock crowed. He did his daily routine, which obviously included the compulsory wank over the memory of Mini riding him, before staring at his phone for 5 minutes, as if a text from her would replace all the messages from his current sort-of girlfriend, Poppy.

Since he'd had his heart ripped out and trampled on by the girl in the red dress, he threw himself into making the farm a viable future. Making him a viable man for a girl like Mini, someone who she wouldn't be ashamed of. He hadn't dropped out of college, he'd finished his A-Levels with a solid BBB, seeing as without Mini he had no distractions. He then took an Open University Business degree, working out how to make the farm more money. He'd failed to get loans, over and over, but eventually he'd succeeded.

The farm now turned a steady profit, and he'd managed to employ several people to do the crappy jobs, along with gaining sponsors and buyers. All in all, Mini breaking his heart was a good thing (or at least, that's what he told himself). His mother had never been more proud of him, and he'd never been more proud of himself. As soon as Mini came back, she was going to realise what a fool she'd been to let him go.

There would be the small issue of how to break the news to Poppy… who wasn't even really his girlfriend. In the few years they were apart she'd grown up, becoming not such a teeny bopper. And there was nobody really left in Bristol to judge him, so when she'd kissed him… he'd let her. She was just… simple. Like she had been at the beginning. But Alo had a feeling that Poppy was more than a little bit infatuated with him, and that she wouldn't take it well.

Alo's alarm buzzed again, reminding him that he should be heading into town for his monthly meeting with the main buyer. If he was honest, there was no way he wasn't going to be late for this one, but the guy was easy to wrap around the ginger's little finger, so he wouldn't worry. He sent a quick reply to his sort-of girlfriend, making sure to include the right amount of x's so she wouldn't get freaked out (girls), turned off his personal mobile and knotted the tie around his neck.

Time for another day of work.

Who would've thought it, Alo Creevey, 20 years old, and manager of an agricultural business?

**L – what? She's coming back? – R**

**R – of course she is – its her mums wedding. I think i'm invited and Frankie is too. – L**

Frankie rolled over on her mattress on the floor of her apartment. She'd gone to university, like Rich (though not as prestigious a university as him), to study psychology. She knew that the things she'd done that last year of school weren't normal, even before she started grieving Grace. It turned out she had an undiagnosed mental disorder, and had spent a far bit of her time in therapy. Unfortunately the therapy hadn't happened before she'd managed to screw up all of her friendships in the meantime. Matty, Nick, Liv… they'd all been torn down in the process.

Strangely enough it was Grace who made her see straight. To see that fucking with both Matty and Nick wasn't what she wanted, it wasn't her. Of course she didn't know what she wanted, so over the past few years she'd done a bit of soul searching. She wanted Nick. Sure, he probably wouldn't be interested in her now that she didn't need saving, but being with him had been easy. Simple, even though there were major complications.

The Matty thing had been… misguided. She thought she was doing what she was supposed to. He was the first guy who wanted her, and she'd felt pressured. The sex was average because Matty was selfish. Or maybe he wasn't selfish enough. Either way, Frankie had ended all of their encounters by faking an orgasm. The Luke thing had been a way of fucking away the pain, the blame, the guilt.

She was to blame for Grace dying. Not just her, but mostly her. And that had taken a lot of therapy to get over. But now she was content with herself. She was ready to give herself to Nick… the only problem being that he was unreachable.

**L – when? – R**

**R – I dunno, middle of the month. I gotz to go, work. Don't be a tosser. – L**

Nick stepped through the front doors of his brother's abode. Prison. He hadn't realised, when he'd convinced his brother to hand himself in, what exactly that would entail. A prison sentence. A fucking prison sentence. Every time he visited he got silence from his brother's end, because this was his fault.

Not that Matty helped himself, lashing out on a monthly basis. Lashing out so bad that Nick almost wasn't allowed to visit. Every time the sentence just got longer and longer until it was obvious that Matty wasn't getting out anytime soon. Nick's life got better from that day, and Matty's just got worse.

Nick was a professional rugby player now (though he had to work incredibly hard to make up for the lost years), earning a decent amount of money and having an endless supply of girls to sleep with. Not that he ever did sleep with them, that wasn't his scene anymore. He was just desperately trying to find out what had happened to the girl with the short hair that had stolen his heart.

**Alo, my main man. Mini's going to be back in town next month. Her mum's wedding. Just thought you should know. LOVE YOU, R xOxO**

Mini smiled as she brought out her suitcase. It was bright pink and incredibly old Mini. Things had changed incredibly since that night, and she was happy with everything. She had a beautiful daughter, who was currently walking around the room, giggling at everything. She had a job as a makeup artist (I guess all those years of sleepovers paid off) and, although her love life was nonexistent, why would she want a boyfriend when she had a beautiful girl in her life?

Returning to Bristol would be weird. There was the fact that she hadn't spoken to any of her friends in 2 years (except Liv, obviously), there was the Alo situation, and above all… she had a kid who looked more and more like him every day. There was no way that Alo wouldn't look at the kid and know exactly who her father was.

All she had to do was avoid ginger minge and all would be fine.

Hopefully.

Though, as she packed up enough clothes and baby shit to last a lifetime (because she couldn't help being a little bit hopeful for this trip), Mini let her mind wander… to year 13, and the time it all changed for her.


	2. Chapter 2

_She couldn't ever imagine them being together, Mini thought as she lay curled up beside him later. Not even as friends. Even just a few months ago she would rather have died then spent time in his company. Yet here she was, looking down at the part of his anatomy that had made her head spin and her lady parts contract (didn't that sound gross?) and just had given her the most pleasurable 10 minutes ever._

_It wasn't that she hated him. Not once they'd got to know each other. It was that he knew her too well. Just a few conversations in and he had seen right through all her lies and her deceit. "You're actually alright, aren't you?" He'd told her, and it had made her heart swell, though broken it at the same time. He was forever giving her sneaky side looks whenever she tried to bullshit. Nobody else had cared, but he had._

_And then the summer happened. And gone were the sneaky looks, he'd actually called her on her bullshit. Grace was forever with Rich, and Franky was with Matty, and Liv was off whoring herself out… so that just left them together. Alo and Mini. Mini and Alo. They were friends. Obviously there were things that they didn't talk about, and most of the time Mini just referred to her problems as her "friend's" problems, and she pretended to be repulsed when he complained about feeling horny or whatever (while secretly being curious about the whole thing)… but they were definitely friends._

_Although Mini had wanted him to lose his virginity to stop his main hobby being masturbating, she was secretly glad when he confessed to still being a virgin (though she couldn't think of a reason why – it wasn't like she fancied him, for God's sake). And then Morocco had happened. And he'd found a new hobby – staring at her tits (which again, she pretended to be repulsed by – "I'll check to see if my tits are still there" was possibly one of the best comebacks ever – while still being pleased by the attention). And getting hard while simultaneously staring at her tits (god, that ride back from the airport had been suitably awkward)._

_So how on earth did she end up curled around his body, her limbs a little bit achy from being on top and a permanently etched smile on her face? "Why don't you just try having some sex?" She'd asked him, all the while planning how she was going to attack him. Mini had been feeling horny – something to do with the heat, she guessed – and the cold shower hadn't helped. And though she could claim that it was just because Alo was there (and that would be the story that she stuck to), in truth it was because she wanted a) for him to not be a virgin and ridiculously horny anymore and b) to know how it felt to have sex when she wasn't doing it to keep her boyfriend faithful to her (and ultimately failing)._

_When she'd kissed him, she'd been pleasantly surprised that he wasn't bad at it, that he seemed eager, and that the horny feeling only increased. "Whoa!" He'd practically acted like she was some surprise present, and she'd loved that. He had no high expectations for this – he just wanted sex. And the ride back from the airport had just proven that he wanted her, so this was the perfect arrangement. "If you tell a soul, I'll fucking kill you." And then she'd felt wanted as he started pinching himself. As if he could ever be this imaginative in a dream._

_These past few months had just been full of surprises. There was the weird feelings for Franky (which had disappeared soon after the Alo friendship had started to happen), the switching of the boyfriends of her girlfriends, the not-wedding, the horny feeling, the wanting to fuck Farmboy… but none of that compared to the surprise of Alo's cock. There was no doubt about it; he was big. Not that she had much opportunity to inspect Nick's man parts, due to the whole not-wanting-to-fuck-him thing. But first impressions told her that Alo was packing some major equipment in his trousers. _

_It was a little intimidating, to say the least. He was packing some major junk and she was… well, she was too skinny to say much about her own body. Not to mention that she'd never done this before… _

_Right, Minerva. You read Cosmo, what do they tell you? Her brain furiously thought, trying to get rid of this doubt and worry about this whole sexual encounter. Even though she had told him to keep quiet something told Mini that no matter what, Alo wouldn't be able to keep his big gob shut. If that was the case, she wanted to give him something to brag about. _

_Step one: Be a tease. Mini daintily stuck her tongue out of her mouth and started to draw patterns on his anatomy, enjoying how practically immediately he started to groan. He started by moaning her name, but as her patterns were drawn slower and slower, his moans became more and more incoherent until they were just mesh of noises._

_Step two: Focus on the tip. Now to go for it. Mini felt a little bit anxious as she opened her mouth (wider than she had expected) and took him in. Like sucking on an ice lolly. she thought, echoing the innocent action that she had been practising for years on something less than innocent. She was obviously doing something right, and she could see out of the corner of her eye Alo's hands twisting in the sheets and his moans becoming so loud that she feared that other people would hear. So it was lucky that the second she followed step three: use your tongue up and down him Farmboy grabbed at her hair and yanked her head up to attack her mouth with his._

"_Farmboy!" She giggled as his fingers tangled in her hair, around her neck, down her body… her towel had been forgotten about, falling to the mattress as Mini responded to the kiss with as much force as she could. Her tits pressed against his chest and she felt him grow even harder, if that was possible. She moaned a little against his mouth, before knowing what the next step was. The actual sex. "Are you sure?" She'd breathlessly asked him, and in response he'd looked at her as if she was mental. _

"_Of course I'm fucking sure." And he'd grabbed hold of her arse and pulled her on top of him, pausing for a second to kiss her. She'd smiled against his mouth, though tried to hide how fucking amazing he felt inside of her. The thing with Nick… that was nothing in comparison to this. Alo's cock was reaching deep inside of her, his hands were moving slowly across her body and she honestly thought that she had never experienced greater pleasure._

_But then she started moving him in and out of her and she lost it. Her breathing came out in gasps and her mind span and "oh god…" Apparently he got off on her pleasure as he was clutching at her as if she was the only stationary thing in his life. They moved as if in sync, both moaning and swearing and not caring about whether or not they could be heard. Then his hands reached between her legs to where they were joined and even just a little graze of her clit made her mind spin and "oh holy fuck!" She'd let the orgasm take her._

_And then he spilled into her, practically yelling out her name. "shit. We didn't use a-"_

"_I'm on the pill, and I don't think you can catch STD's from porn…" She'd smirked at him, pushing him backwards and curling against him on the springy mattress. _

_And so there they were. Alo not a virgin anymore, Mini finally having enjoyed sex. Morocco really had made things go weird…_

**Rich, I honestly couldn't care less. She left me and I'm fine. I barely even think about her anymore. Text me when YOU'RE back and I'll pay attention. LOVE YOU TOO. 3**

Alo always let his mind wander during his lunch breaks. He usually sat on their old table in Maccy D's, which they had chosen during that summer when she was a little bit too awkward to announce that she had decided that Alo was slightly worthy of her company. He stared out of the window, munching absent mindedly on his burger, and just remembered.

_He'd had a grin on his face constantly for the next few hours. Of course Mini had made some excuse, claiming she'd heard people waking up and she didn't want them walking in on her and him in a compromising position, but she'd given him a quick kiss and a grin as she left, stealing one of his shirts too. "It'll look better on me, anyway." Hell yeah it would._

_And he'd lain there for at least 30 minutes, unable to move as his mind processed what had just happened. He wasn't a virgin anymore. Mini McGuinness had chosen to take his virginity. She hadn't been forced to or bribed to or anything. Alo Creevey had just fucked the Queen Bitch herself, Mini McGuinness._

_So the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon had passed by uneventfully. He'd had fun at the pool, smirking at Mini whenever they caught each other's eye and feeling incredibly pathetic at the excitement that lanced through him due to the prospect of it happening again. All that filled his head that day was Mini Mini Mini Mini Mini._

_To tell the truth he'd been surprised when they even became friends, but after their dancing at his house party it was just inevitable. They'd been pretty much inseparable, spending almost every day at the McDonald's down the street from her. "Are you serious?" He'd asked her, the first time she dragged him there._

"_I don't want anyone seeing us!" She'd laughed at the hurt expression on his face, but not in a bitchy way. Once he'd discovered that it was almost all just a front, he couldn't take anything she said seriously. He'd discovered a lot about her… her giggle, the way to make her laugh, her stupid exercise routine (which he'd repeatedly tried to talk her out of, but failed every time – though he did notice that she had gained a little more weight, which seemed to build on her fantastic mammaries), how her bitchiness came out when she was hurt or upset or just generally feeling not good enough…_

_Back to Morocco, back to the dance party, which he was happy during, still riding the high of seeing Mini laugh at his dumb beat boxing (which if he was honest with himself was the only reason he'd done it)… he'd stared at Mini for the entire time, mesmerised by how she still danced badly, like they'd done at his party, and how she just didn't care. Ugh, he needed more sex. Sex was fantastic._

_So when he'd stumbled out of the "toilet," which was really just a hole in the ground, to find her standing there, sex was all that was on his mind. Again. When she explained her reasoning he couldn't help feeling smug, "I banged your brains out" being the best way to describe it._

_Even when she'd claimed that it was never happening again, his smugness didn't fade. The way she'd moaned, not anywhere as loudly as those girls in his porn films, but breathlessly and blissfully and just perfectly, could not have been faked. He'd given Mini an amazing orgasm, and on his first time as well. Her excuses became more disjointed, more stuttered, and when he'd seen her breath hitch at the memory of that morning, Alo knew he'd won. He didn't even care that she didn't want anyone to know._

_So he'd dropped to his knees, fingers tracing down her body as he went. Teasing her by avoiding the area just below her hips, he placed open mouthed kisses to her inner thigh, while his fingers absentmindedly followed. He barely lasted a few seconds before his resistance to the temptation to fuck her with his mouth wavered, and that's when her moans started._

_Things like this were so perfect they could only be real life. Tasting Mini fucking McGuinness in a public place. Getting to hear her gasps, taste and feel how turned on she was… how turned on he made her… She barely lasted a minute before her fingers curled in his hair and she came around him. He half expected her to walk off, to return to the party… but she didn't, she yanked him up, started kissing him (another thing that wouldn't be out of place in porn: her tasting herself on his tongue), violently pulling him against the cave wall and demanding that he fuck her._

_And obviously he didn't hesitate. What Mini wanted, Mini always got._

Back in the present, Alo's daydream was cut short by the buzzing of his phone.

**A – This time I really think you should care. – R**


	3. Chapter 3

_Mini woke up the next morning, expecting the cramps. She'd been regular since she started eating properly again, and had designed her little "How to make it through a period without murdering someone" kit. Painkillers, hot water bottle, water, chocolate... all the necessities._

_But that morning there were no cramps. Alo was lying on her floor, after their quick shag following their what-seemed-to-be-weekly crying sesh. Well, Mini cried. Alo just held her close until the tears stopped. But no cramps. No spots in her underwear. Nothing. Worry built up in Mini's stomach. She closed her eyes and hoped that it would come later, letting a few tears slip out._

In the present day, Mini realised that she and Alo had just been stupid. In fact, Mini couldn't even remember having taken her pill for about a month before hand. They'd assumed it wasn't going to happen to them, the friends with benefits who had been fucking practically every day since Morocco.

_When she saw that word on the stick she knew that her life was fucked. But, as Mini always did, she put it in a box and pushed it to the back of her mind. She'd done it with Nick, with Liv, with Gracie... every time something was too real, too scary. And every single time, it had ended up becoming her main worry anyway._

_Suddenly Alo seemed too clingy. His texts were like he was her boyfriend; the way he held her after fucking was too intimate, the way he smiled at her in class too obvious. The boy was getting the wrong idea, and Mini didn't want him as her boyfriend. She didn't even want him. (She did. She wanted him so bad. Pushing him away knotted her stomach)._

_It had all come to a head that day in the bathroom. The overwhelming pleasure of her orgasm disappeared the second those words fell out of his mouth. Whether he meant them or not, she didn't care. All she knew was that he was stifling her. He was terrifying her. And above all, she wanted him to get the fuck away from her._

Now on the plane, Mini was gripped by fear. What was she thinking, taking Grace to Bristol? Any idiot could tell that the kid was Alo's. Even if they didn't know that Mini had been fucking him. And the second Alo heard that Mini was in town he would come find her. He would come find her and find out about Grace and then Grace would get her heart ripped out, just like Mini had done.

**Liv, it's Alo. I need to be your plus one for Mini's mum's wedding.**

**A – why the fuck do u want 2 do that? – L**

**L – I need to see her. – A**

_Alo knew, the second those words were out, that he meant them. He was in love with Mini. He didn't just "love fucking her" and he didn't love her as a friend. He was in love with Mini McGuinness, even though she was a ball of fucked-up-ness. He loved her. As the day went by his resolve solidified. He was going to get Mini to properly listen to him, even if he had to tie her up and force her to._

_First there was when she was with her bastard of a father. One look at him and Alo could tell that this wasn't going to end well. And since when did Mini even have a dad? But Mini wouldn't listen; she just turned on bitch mode – even though he had seriously bruised ribs from lunging on the car. "I think you're confusing your dreams with real life again, Alo. So I'll see you around. Drive, Gregory." He couldn't ignore the desperation in her voice. Was she that desperate to impress her dad that she didn't want to acknowledge that they were even friends? Or was she just that desperate to pretend like it was still just sex between them? To pretend that all friendship had disappeared the second she walked into his room in Morocco... to pretend that they didn't have jokes and laughs and happy times in that shitty McDonald's... _

_Alo injured himself again as she drove off. And that's why tears formed in his eyes. Nothing to do with the realisation that Mini was definitely going to fuck him over._

**A – r u sure? It's been like 3 yrs... a lot has changed... – L**

**L – I'm sure. 100% - A**

_It had become part of a morning ritual now. Open the drawer, stare at all the millions of sticks in there, saying all the same thing, and try to accept it. But it never happened. She wasn't pregnant. She couldn't be. _

_Now she had Gregory, the non-pregnancy stuff would have to wait. She needed to impress her dad, which meant impressing his work mates. So she'd slipped on her dress that was getting slightly too tight (too many sweeties) and headed off, ignoring her mum's "good morning." _

_Mini had to impress him. She needed him in her life, so she ignored the pain that lanced through her at the realisation that he hadn't let anyone know he even had a daughter, ignored the snide looks from his boss, and focused on the way his assistant Ryan had given her a double take. Besides, all was forgiven when her dad seemed to actually care about her opinion (though a niggling voice in the back of her mind told her that it was probably just because he wanted to get out of here). _

_She carried on ignoring her doubts as he flirted with girls who were only a few years older than she was, because he was ignoring her. She tried to include herself in the conversation with Ryan, but got distracted. Would that be Alo, one day? Ignoring his daughter to flirt with a load of practically children, while Mini was stuck at home, going through multiple men and never being happy?_

_She was interrupted by Ryan, who had apparently noticed that she didn't care about his job. But that didn't stop him from asking her out, and she couldn't help smirking a little and playing coy._

**M – I heard you're going to be back in town, want to maybe get a drink sometime? – A**

**M – oh, come on! Don't ignore me. – A**

**M – Mins. We're not kids anymore. – A**

_He tried again the next day. Even though Eric, who seemed like a laugh, told him Mini wasn't in, he still waited for her. Hours passed, and it was cold in her room, so he got under the covers and started reading one of her magazines. Kinda dull, but he needed to talk to her. _

_Even when she came in, obviously in a foul mood, he didn't give up. He apologised immediately, and felt that undeniable attraction to her. All he wanted was to be close to her. Not even for sex. He wanted to talk to her, and feel her body against his, and just... be together. "I want proper Mini." He shook her a little bit, but the way she avoided eye contact with him told Alo that he would have to work for this proper conversation. So he kissed her neck, knowing that was a sure-fire way to get her to feel a little nicer. _

_Even though he protested, she seemed determined to have sex. It was annoying, and totally unlike Alo for him to try and stop it, but this was important. This was really, really important. A life or death situation. Even though he almost lost his resolve when he was exposed to her perfect tits. "You were fucked." She'd sounded so certain of that, but her eyes looked terrified. _

_She didn't want him to be in love with her. Well, it was too late. And then she wasn't underneath him anymore, and he was on the floor, being called a pussy. "If you're not here to fuck me, go home." That stung. That really stung. That was like his heart had been ripped out a little. But then he couldn't feel hurt for long, not when he enjoyed watching her be a bitch to other people so much. Especially when it looked like he was actually staying the night, which meant that he could get to talk to her. "You're sleeping on the floor." _

Mini avoided looking at her phone every time it went off, knowing exactly who the texts were from. She made sure to tell her mum not to answer the door if she saw it was Alo, and always avoided that McDonald's they used to hang out at, and just took all the measures to ensure an awkward meeting wouldn't happen. Liv had finally got around to meeting Grace, and had adored her even more than she did over Skype, and although at first it had been weird, now it was almost like old times. But every time Mini was showing her daughter her favourite people; her favourite places, and she saw a flash of ginger hair, her mind leapt back to the time when she fucked everything up. And in that second it was impossible to breathe.

_She couldn't help feeling a little more safe when he was around. Even though she wasn't lying next to him, even though he was on the floor and she was on the bed... she could feel him. He was looking through old photo albums, and seemed content to do that, and Mini was just content to have him near to her. As long as he didn't start going on about his feelings anymore. He was just confused; he didn't really love her._

_He made her laugh. His laugh was just contagious, and it was nice to finally be able to share all these happy memories with someone. Just the mention of the G word or the Liv situation made Mini want to freeze up and become a bitch with everyone else, but with Alo... he at least got a few minutes of laughter. "She looks happy." And Grace was happy. The summer before they'd started to drift apart as friends, when they were the trio that nobody could split up._

_Suddenly Mini didn't want to talk about it anymore. She didn't want to talk. "I miss her too." And then it hurt too much, and her eyes blurred too much to be able to see. So the light was pointless. And then the tears fell, and they weren't silent. Mini never had been one for silent crying. They were full blown sobs that wracked her body until she couldn't bear it. She used the darkness as an excuse, sliding next to Alo and just letting him stroke her arm until they subsided. He didn't tell her it was all going to be okay, he didn't ask her if she wanted to talk about it... _

_He was just there for her. _

_When nobody else could be._

Alo found himself at Mini's front door again, banging repeatedly until her Mum opened it. "Alo, I've told you. She's not here."

"Well can you tell her to reply to my texts? I don't care if she's not here, she's in Bristol and I have to see her." Alo wasn't taking no for an answer this time. He wasn't going to sit around waiting, like he had been doing for the past 2 years. He said he was going to be waiting for her, but he never expected her to hide from her feelings for this long...

_The morning routine was messed up. She woke up in the bed at Gregory's, with a smile on her face and a fantastic day ahead of her. Even though the world seemed to want to screw her over, what with the stupid bug she had and Frankie making assumptions about shit she knew nothing about, and Gregory leaving her... but then it swung around. She was going to Australia. Away from Alo, and Liv, and the memory of Gracie which kept threatening to overwhelm her every second of every day. How on Earth could metal head focus on schoolwork when Grace wasn't here? When Grace had gone and fucked off and died? _

_Australia. With sun and sea and sand and happiness. _

_Everything was going to work out for once._

"Alo, where the fuck have you been?" Poppy practically screeched down the phone at him. He'd decided that he couldn't avoid her any longer, that he should really tell her that his ex was in town and he was still in love with her and was going to do anything to win her back. "I've been calling you every evening this week!"

He could claim that she was being too clingy, that she was acting like a child... which he supposed she was. The possessiveness of her was the perfect excuse, but in the end... "Work's just been crazy, babe. I'll be better when I get this sponsorship. How've you been?" ... he couldn't do it.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Does he do it on purpose?" The words slipped out as she stared at her Dad. Her Dad who had passed her onto Ryan like she was some child that he didn't want; a child who had just thrown up on his expensive suit. Every time she tried to act like he wasn't doing it to be cruel, every time when she just about managed to forget that he had fucked off and left her before, he just did it all again, leaving her disappointed. Not in him, because he obviously couldn't help it. But in herself, for believing that maybe this time he would change. But they were going to Australia together, which had to mean something. Sure, he might not be the most doting father, but he was her ticket out of here. _

"_It's taste like jizz!" She recognised the voice anywhere. Fucking hell, what was Liv doing here? What were they all doing here, Alo especially? She'd kicked him out that morning; did he not get the fucking hint? She'd snapped at them all, her stomach sinking as she realised how wrong this evening could go._

_And go wrong it did. She didn't know that Ryan had been a dick. She didn't know that Alo had got jealous and taken some coke and drunk himself silly. She didn't know that Liv had told him he had no chance with her. She didn't know that every second she was giggling with Ryan was a second that Alo was feeling worse and worse. She just didn't know, but it all became apparent when the ginger had stormed past everyone in their direction._

_The boy was out of it, his eyes wide and his words slurring together. He was going to screw everything up... and that's when the defences were built. "Alo, fuck off, please!" He didn't listen, the words just kept coming. They would keep coming and he would never stop. _

"_She's my girlfriend and you lot just fuck with her head!" There was that word. The word that they had avoided on purpose. The word that was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her head. He really did love her, and she had to stop that. And the words built in her head. The words that would stop it all._

_Mini tried to ignore them, as he was being pulled away, but when he started calling out for her desperately, knowing that her cool facade had been shattered, knowing that her dad had lost all respect for her... she couldn't help herself. _

"_I don't want you here." Her voice sounded cruel and she wished she could stop, but the words had to be said. "I never wanted you at all, do you understand?!" He did understand. Realisation dawned in his eyes and it pained her. But still, she couldn't stop. "Now get the fuck out, you deluded loser!" _

_And there they were. She saw tears fill his eyes; probably the only time she had seen him look so depressed. Tears were probably in her eyes but she couldn't care. She wouldn't tear her eyes away from him because there was a part of her that hoped that he would see that this was his fault. That he had pushed her into saying those words. _

_It was his fault, it really was. She didn't mean any of them. She didn't mean it, because she – she- Mini l- oh what was the fucking use? Alo had fucked her and now he'd fucked her up, and she couldn't breathe for a moment and oh god, she had kissed Ryan. _

_And he was kissing her back and for about a minute it felt good. But eventually reality caught up with her. It wasn't Alo's soft hair she was running her hands through, it wasn't his knitted jumper that was pressed up against her, it wasn't his soft hands running up and down her legs, it wasn't Alo's lips kissing her neck, these kisses were too messy, too sloppy... ugh._

"_Take care, okay?" He was looking at her with pity. She was back to being the girl that everyone pitied. _

_The next hour passed by in a blur. There was the "you're putting way too much into it you know. With your dad I mean." From Liv, because she just didn't understand. There was the nearly confession, which Frankie interrupted. There was the "I haven't told myself," sitting on the floor of the cloakroom for a while, with tears streaming down her face... there was the "I'm pregnant, Dad." "I need you to help me," with the silence speaking volumes. "I can never get over myself and just stick it out." _

"_You can help me now, Dad."_

"_Deal."_

Mini got out her phone to send a quick text to Gregory. She'd thought he was going to leave her, and he'd confessed that he nearly did. He had written the cheque and the note and if she hadn't walked in at that very second, he would've run. And she would've been stuck with a Mum who would be disappointed in her and a weird almost-step-father and just... everything would've sucked.

**Dad – I got to Bristol safely. Gracie's loving it. Hope the contract goes well, I'll speak to you soon. – Mins x**

They exchanged brief texts and emails every so often, but only when one of them had something important to say. Gregory hadn't really been a major part of Gracie's life, but that was okay. It was all okay. It was all alright.

"_I don't want you to go." Her mum had tried to convince her. "At that first scan, when I saw your little heartbeat on the screen... I loved you." Briefly Mini wondered if she'd feel the same way about her baby. If she'd love it. Or if she'd fuck it up just she'd fucked up everything else in her life. "More than anything else, that hasn't changed. Why don't you believe me?" Maybe because she'd been made to feel like a big inconvenience for her? And nothing but a big inconvenience?_

_There was no response that wouldn't make Mini start crying. And once the tears started, the fact about the baby would come out and rear its ugly head and then she'd never leave. So she stormed past her, allowing one last bitchy comment. "Maybe you weren't worth the effort."_

_Before she knew it, Mini was crying. She was crying as she stood in the flat, staring at her father as he scrumpled up something. A goodbye letter? A wad of cash? Anything other than deal with a pregnant daughter who might fuck everything up for him. Or maybe she was crying because Alo had really given up on her. Before he even knew about the baby. He hated her. _

**M – we need to fucking talk. What about that don't you understand? – A**

Alo groaned as yet another text went unresponded to. He wanted to tell her he'd meant everything he said that time when they'd said goodbye, but then what if she assumed the wrong thing? Oh, fuck. Why were girls so fucking complicated?

_He'd been sat in his barn for what seemed like weeks, staring at the same spot on the wall, refusing the food that Mumgabe offered, refusing to move, refusing to do anything to dull that echo in his head. "I don't want you here."_

"_I never wanted you at all."_

"_Deluded loser." _

_And then she was there. She was here, staring at the back of his head as he refused to look at her. He couldn't, because then he'd tell her he loved her. He'd say it again, because it was still as true as the first time. He just wanted her to hurt. Even just a little bit. So when he responded, he made an effort to keep his voice calm, but it ended up sounding hollow. Empty. Like he had no heart anymore, because it all just got too hard. She'd said those words, she'd become that bitch who hated him, and ripped out his heart, thrown it to the ground and repeatedly stamped on it. _

"_I'd quite like for you not to be here right now." He had to attempt it three times before he felt strong enough not to sob. _

"_I'm telling you I'm sorry." And maybe she was. Until the next time when she realised that it was Alo and she was her, and she got on her high horse and she wanted to impress her dad and she wanted to act all cool and mature and then she'd do it again without even blinking._

"_And I'm telling you it doesn't matter." They agreed that it would just be sex. But she'd fucked it all up by giving him hope, giving him those secret smiles and letting him hold her and not telling anybody and even Liv thought it was hopeless. How could they go back now? "I'm done, Mins. It's too fucking exhausting loving you." Night after night he lay awake thinking of her. Thinking of ways to impress her, to be the person that she would want to be with. _

_But he was just a deluded loser, wasn't he? He must have been totally mental to think that Mini McGuinness would stop being so fucked up and maybe want to be with him. He must be retarded to think that because she chose to fuck him, and continue fucking him, and to hang out with him and just fucking... be... fuck. He couldn't even sort out his own thoughts. Mini wasn't helping. And she knew. She knew exactly what buttons to press to get him to finally look at her. "Say it." He was practically begging. Just say those words and then it would all be sorted. They'd be together and he'd be happy and he'd forgive everything if she would just..._

_She would never say it. "I don't think you know how to love anything." And then they were done. He was done._

_He didn't want her near him anymore. Not if she wasn't going to be honest with him. _

"Stop being a bitch, Mini. He fathered your fucking – oops, sorry Gracie. He fathered your kid! And he wants to see you, so why don't you just meet up with him? I'll look after ginger here. Just go!" Liv stressed over and over about Alo, every time Mini ignored his texts. She practically shoved her out of her flat and towards the McDonald's that _everyone _saw them hanging out at.

**A – If you have a mo, I'll meet you at our usual place. – M x**

"_You still love her, don't you?" Rich was sitting with Alo, staring at that same spot. He wasn't used to seeing the ginger like this, frozen with pain and heartache and angst for days on end. Mini had fucked him about, but he was never going to move on unless he got a goodbye, or closure. So, although it pained him, Rich knew that he had to do the right thing by his best friend and get him that closure._

"_And I know she loves me." He whispered, not even really believing it anymore. Of course she loved him. They were hanging out all the time and the smiles and the happiness and just everything. She loved him; she just wasn't ever going to admit it. "I texted her and she didn't reply."_

"_You told her she didn't know how to love anything, she's probably not best pleased with you." Rich smirked a little; thinking about how he never thought people would come to him for love advice. "Go round there, Alo. Even if it's just to say goodbye properly. Even if it's just to pick up something you left behind..." _

_Alo didn't need any more convincing. He wanted his mix CD back and he wanted to see her and he wanted to see if she looked as shit and he felt. "Mini!" He banged on the door repeatedly. Eventually Eric answered. "Er, she's not in, Alo."_

"_That's cool, I'll wait." Eric's eyes looked a little red themselves, and Alo could sort of hear sniffles coming from inside. "Where's she gone, it's like 9 am. Mini doesn't usually surface until-"_

"_She's fucked off to Australia!" The wail came from upstairs. "She's getting a plane this morning and it's all your fucking fault, Alo!" _

_Then the door was slammed in his face, leaving Alo with the realisation that he might have actually lost Mini for good. He determinedly scrubbed the tears off his cheeks and jumped in the van, heading to the airport and probably breaking all the speed limits. Mini was not going to Australia. Who the fuck goes to Australia on a whim, anyway? _

**M – I'll be there in 5. – A**

"It's work. I gots to go, Poppy." He kissed his sort of girlfriend on the cheek and practically ran off, not caring that it looked incredibly odd to everyone who saw him, grinning as he headed towards the McDonald's that was slightly dangerous with its food hygiene standards.

"_Mini!" She heard his yell as she smiled at the check in desk lady. She tried to ignore it, but he was there. This wasn't a figment of her imagination. Alo had somehow been told that she was going to Australia and was here to tell her that he was glad she was going because she was a bitch who deserved nothing but unhappiness._

"_For fuck's sake Farmboy, what are you playing at?" She'd turned around when she'd heard him practically wheezing behind her, acting pissed off but secretly being pleased that he was here. That her flight had been delayed because of weird weather patterns and that they were only getting out today, pleased that she would actually get to say goodbye, even if it wasn't going to be romantic and a promise of better times upon her return._

"_Eric... your mum... why didn't you tell me?" _

"_Maybe because I didn't want to?" She'd snapped at him, making him flinch at her menace. "Seriously, you went and nearly fucked up everything with my dad, so you completely ruined any friendship we possibly had so you know... I'm looking forward to getting as far away from you as I possibly can. I mean seriously, Alo. Coke at my dad's party? Calling me your girlfriend? What the fuck is wrong with you?"_

"_You're what's wrong with me!" He'd practically yelled back. "I'm not just some lame Michael Cera." She was now staring up at him, shocked into silence. "You can't just treat me like a bitch and expect me not to fall in love with you. It's not fair, Mini."_

"_Who said I was in love with you?" Her voice was laced with hatred, but her eyes were wide with fear. Because she was. She couldn't say it... she wouldn't say it... but she was. _

"_Don't do that. Don't revert back to that Mean Girls McGuinness bullshit. I hate that girl. I want you." Mini wasn't standing for this. Her dad was standing the other side of the gate, waiting to spoil her in duty free, and she was going to join him. She was going to Australia and she was going to have Alo's fucking baby but he wasn't going to be there because he loved her... not her with a child. "I'm not going to leave you alone."_

"_It's not that easy." She was broken. She was pregnant and broken._

"_How? How is it not that easy? I don't see what could be easier than just you and me." And then he was kissing her, in that way that had been practised a million times. She threw her arms around him, kissing him back with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. He spun her around, thinking that this was it. That they were going to be together now... but then she opened her eyes and spotted her dad, frowning at her. _

"_Stop, Alo. Stop it!" She'd shrieked at him when he refused to let her go. _

"_No. No, Mini. What are you so afraid of?" Because there was something. That was obvious by the way her lips were shaking. He'd grabbed her again but she'd shoved him away. "What is it?" Mini had just shaken her head and walked towards her dad._

_And he'd been about to let her go, but he couldn't stop himself. He was drawn to her like a magnet and "I love you." His voice was quiet but she heard. "And I know you love me too." The kissing had just proved it. "And when you're ready to admit that you come and find me." She wasn't walking away anymore; she was just staring at him. "Because I'll be fucking waiting. However long it takes." However many miles she went away from him. He loved her, and that wasn't going to change._

_But in the end, it didn't stop her. Because she carried on walking. And Alo was left to pick up the pieces of his heart and try to put them back together._

And she was here. With more freckles than ever before. And hair like the sun and she was just as beautiful as he'd remembered. She wasn't wearing makeup, and her hair wasn't straightened, and it was just how he loved her. She was biting her lip and staring at the table... and then she looked up and her face brightened.

"Hey, Farmboy."


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Minerva." He'd grinned back, and sat down opposite her, unable to remove his eyes from her face. "Long time no see."

"Yeah... Liv wouldn't let me ignore your texts anymore. She practically shoved me in here. Apparently our hiding place wasn't so hidden." She returned her gaze to her hands, slowly chipping off her nail polish. Mini couldn't help it, being with Alo made her nervous. She was in love with- the idea of him. The memory of him. Who knew if he was still the same guy? "So... I like your suit. Since when did you dress like this? Did you finally look in the mirror while wearing one of those hideous jumpers?"

"Since I started owning the farm."

"Do you not get cow shit all over it?" She knew. She knew all about what Alo had been up to, of course she did. He was the father of her fucking child and she wanted to keep an eye on him. If she got out her phone, she'd be able to see exactly what he'd been doing. Mini had saved all the texts from Liv about him.

_**Alo got BBB, Mins. **_

_**Alo's doing a fuckin business degree. Who can believe it.**_

_**Alo's been given the farm, Mins. **_

_**He's got dosh. Serious dosh. U should come bck. **_

"I kinda sorta got rich." He wasn't looking at her. Of course he wasn't, it wasn't like Alo to brag at all. He was more the be humble and a little pathetic type. "The farm's doing well, and so I could hire people."

"So you're somebody's boss? I never had you down as the type to be business smart." She smiled so he'd know that she was joking, unsure if he would still remember that she was never actually really being a bitch. She was just... guarded.

"Well, when you left I never really had any distractions. It was either hang out with Rich in the library or sit on my own for hours on end, so..." He muttered, and Mini was unsure if she was even meant to hear it. A look of disgust crossed his face and Mini couldn't help remembering how awful she must have made him feel.

"I didn't mean it." She whispered back. "What I said at the party." Their eyes met, and he now just looked confused. "You weren't a deluded-"

"I remember. I just don't get why you're saying it now. Why you didn't say it at the airport." Without really thinking, Mini reached across and grabbed his hand. Alo, thank god, seemed to understand that now wasn't really the time to talk about it. "I have to go back to work, but maybe-"

"Can I come see?" She broke off his goodbye with a request. She wanted to see Alo in his element. And she didn't really want to return to the real world, where she had a kid with this guy, and responsibilities, and whatever. "And then maybe we could go out later?"

Alo was too shocked to do anything but nod.

**L – I won't be back for a while. Make sure to text me if Gracie needs anything, and take her home at 4-ish. – M x**

Alo was shocked for the rest of the afternoon. He managed to give off the impression that he wasn't a little bit intimidated by her presence, but still. Mini was here. Mini was taking an interest in the farm, an interest in his life... asking all the right questions, like who the sponsors were, what the profit was, stuff to make him seem important and rich and successful. She chatted with all his employees, flirting with the ones that seemed to dislike Alo, schmoozing with the ones who seemed to love her. She'd be the perfect date to one of those dull business parties... the ones that were all about "networking." Not to mention that even when she was talking to someone else she'd purposely catch Alo's eye and give him a smile.

He still loved her.

And every second he realised that even if she hadn't meant what she'd said that night, he meant what he'd said. He was still fucking waiting for her. He'd said he would wait however long it took. Two years later, and he still loved her just as much. He still wanted her just as much. And she was still Mini.

**M – don't do anything I wouldn't do ;) – L x**

They were in the club now, and it was getting late. Mini was completely drunk, using the opportunity that she hadn't had for the past few years. Due to her dad not being the doting grandparent, she had no easy babysitters. She would've had to pay for one herself, and nights out weren't really high on her priorities when it came to money.

"I missed you!" She yelled in his ear. The music was too loud, the club too claustrophobic, the alcohol too strong, but she had some stuff to say.

"You're drunk, Mins!" He yelled back, and she guessed that he wouldn't believe her until they were somewhere quieter. So she grabbed his wrists and yanked him towards the door, pulling until they were outside, the fresh air sobering her up a little. "I like that song..." he mumbled, before just staring at her.

"I missed you, Alo. I really really really really really missed you." Maybe that was too many really's but Mini needed to tell him.

"You could've stayed." He muttered, now looking pissed off. She'd forgotten that Alo, when drunk, had serious mood swings.

"You hated me." She pointed back.

"No, I didn't. I loved you!" He grabbed both her shoulders and she realised that they could kiss without very much effort right now. "I loved you more than I loved anything in the world, Mini. I would've done anything for you, even though you fucking broke my heart."

"I didn't mean to. I thought you hated me, and my dad..."

"Yeah. Where's your dad right now? Was he worth leaving all this for?" Alo was breathing heavily, and Mini didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything. Instead she kissed him, tasting the alcohol on his breath and just feeling.

Before she knew it they were getting a taxi back to his, touching each other the entire way. If they weren't kissing, his hands were on her. Not even in a sexual way, his hands were stroking her face, his lips were on her neck, his hands were holding her close to him or even just stroking her hair. It had been two years since they'd been together and kissing him had awoken a need inside of her; a need that she had ignored.

And then they were out of the taxi and kissing again. Kissing while he struggled with the front door, kissing while moving up the stairs, taking a break for Mini to say "fuck, Farmboy, I can't wait that long" when he tried to spend time on foreplay, kissing as they fell onto his bed, kissing as they removed their clothes.

"Mini, I-" he had been about to say how he felt, but then he had remembered what had happened the last time so he just returned to kissing her.

Even though it had been 2 years since they'd come close to this, they fell back into their old routine, both of them knowing exactly when to stop teasing, when to start teasing, when to move, where to put their hands.. Alo swore that he would never have better sex than when with Mini, and Mini thought the same thing.

It was a long night. They'd fuck, doze off for a little bit, and then come to, demand fucking and get what they wanted. And repeat until both are far too satisfied and content with the amount of sex that they could barely move. "Don't leave, Mins." He'd mumbled before drifting off, obviously noticing how her eyes kept straying to the door. "I mean it." And just to prove it, he grabbed her close and held her.

She didn't want to leave. In fact, she knew it would kill her to leave him when all she wanted to do was curl up with him and stay like that forever. But she had a child. And Alo was the father, and she had to tell him at some point. And then she'd lose this. He'd be stuck with her forever, and she'd inevitably fuck up. Because she always fucked up.

But she let him hold her. Just for the night.

And she couldn't help but notice that she slept better than she had in a long while. And she didn't dream of horrible things, like breaking Alo's heart and Gracie and baby Grace dying. She dreamt of happy memories...

"_Alo, what the fuck are you doing here?" She'd opened the door to his grin (though why he was grinning when their best friend was in hospital she didn't know), and although she'd been tempted to slam the door in his face... something stopped her. Maybe the fact that she had been needing release ever since they got back from Morocco, maybe the fact that there was a part of her that knew that Alo was the only one who could give it to her._

_No matter what the reason was, she didn't even have time to make him the coffee that she'd offered him. She was pouring the hot water and then suddenly his arms were around her and he was kissing her neck and the water was completely forgotten about. She played hard to get at first; refusing to turn around even though she really really wanted to. When his hands moved upwards... that's when all self restraint went out the window. "Fuck, farmboy..." she'd spun around and pulled his lips to hers, enjoying how his hands paused in midair for a moment at the shock of her actually responding._

_But then he was clutching at her, hands twisting in her clothes as he adjusted to the force of her kiss. She needed the release, and that was only going to happen from a quickie. So within about 5 milliseconds she palmed the front of his shorts, listening to him moan a little before letting out a breathless "Fuck me" and being happy when he complied. _

"What the actual fuck?!" Mini's peaceful slumber was ruined by a screech that only a dog would hear clearly. "Alo, tell me this isn't what it looks like!" When she opened her eyes, she saw Alo walking an extremely short girl out of his room, tugging on his boxers as he did so. Wait... Alo had a girlfriend?

"Poppy, you knew we weren't serious." Alo had just been watching Mini sleep, enjoying the steady rise and fall of her chest, enjoying the way her make up had smudged off at some point last night, enjoying just being with her. But then Poppy had burst in, spotted the two of them naked in bed together and put the pieces together. She'd been right, but he didn't want Mini to know that there had been other girls.

"That's Wendy, isn't it?" Tears formed in Poppy's eyes, and Alo was hit with the guilt. He didn't want anyone to get hurt, but if he wasn't careful, everyone was going to get upset. "That's the bitch who broke your heart. I knew that you were pathetic, I didn't realise that you were like a puppy dog who would just run back to her the second she showed you any attention!"

"I'm... sorry." Alo's tongue felt too big for his mouth and he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting to the door where he hoped that Mini was still sleeping. They hadn't spoken much about what last night meant for them as a couple, and he knew she wouldn't take it well that he'd slept with her when he was technically in a relationship with another girl. "But you and I haven't been good for a while. It's stopped being fun for me, and I just want... I just don't want to be with you anymore."

Poppy's sobs echoed around his brain as she stumbled away.

But at least he'd got the balls to do it. Poppy and him were over, and now he could focus on making things right with Mini.

Except when he returned to the room, she was fully dressed and standing there, watching him with crossed arms.

"What the actual fuck, Farmboy?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Mini slowly drifted into consciousness. She'd had a horrible night's sleep, full of tossing and turning and nightmares and shit. But eventually it'd subsided and she'd slept for a couple of hours. Upon waking, she realised that she must've fallen asleep properly when Nick fucked off. Leaving her to deal with the blood stain on her legs, the twisting of her stomach, and the pain in her chest. _

_She wasn't a virgin anymore. She'd fucked Nick, had the worst few minutes of her life... all because she'd seen him come out of a room with Liv. There was some other explanation, she was sure. But still. He was supposed to be spending time with her, and maybe if they were having sex, he'd do that. _

_Obviously it hadn't worked out like that. _

_He'd fucked her around._

_Again. _

Mini wasn't really sure why she had a sudden flashback to that morning. Maybe because the way she was feeling was similar to the way she felt then. Like the wool had been removed from her eyes and now she had to face the real stuff.

Of course Alo had got with someone else. Of course he had, it was Alo and he wanted sex and it had been two years and whatever... but she just felt heartbroken that he didn't tell her that he was currently _in a relationship _with someone.

"Mini, look. You fucked off and Poppy-"

"Oh my god." Mini couldn't bear to explain why hearing that name was the last straw. She just pushed Alo away from the door and then walked down the stairs as fast as she could. He'd got with the girl that nearly got him put in jail? That was not normal. None of this was normal, and not normal was not good for Grace to get herself into. And Mini, as her mother, had a duty to protect her from this.

"Mini!" Alo followed her, making various attempts to grab her and force her to stop, all of which were shrugged off. "Mini, let me explain!" Tears were already beginning to burn her eyes, making vision impossible. So she ignored the sensible suggestion of putting her shoes on and instead just slammed the door in his face, heading down the street barefoot.

"_If you care, then why did you fuck my best friend?" Mini's voice hardly sounded human as the words slipped out of her mouth. Suddenly it had all got too much, and she couldn't hide any longer. She'd hated Liv for it, and Liv knew that. But Nick... she was so scared of being alone that she'd just pretended like it had never happened._

_But at the club it was like everything was just pushed into her face. She'd danced with Rider to get a reaction out of Nick. Proof that maybe he actually gave two shits about her. If he got jealous, maybe he'd realise that he loved Mini and that they were supposed to be together. _

_But it hadn't turned out like that. It started off well enough, but then he'd punched Rider because Rider had said something about Liv. And it was just all fucking ridiculous. When would he ever defend her honour like that? Never. Because he didn't care. _

_Nobody cared._

"Mini!" He was still running after her. In his boxers. Fucking Farmboy had no regard for etiquette, did he? Fuck's sake.

"Last night was a mistake, Alo. I was right to leave you 2 years ago because let's face it. I still don't want you!" She screeched the words at him, tears blinding her as she tried to get as far away from him as possible.

"You don't mean that, you're just scared. Poppy means nothing to me-"

"So that makes it all okay, does it? She's your fucking girlfriend, Alo. And you just cheated on her without a care in the world." She paused for a moment, trying to put this in ways that the dunce would understand. "You judged Nick when he cheated on me. You've probably judged everybody. But he felt about me the way you felt about Poppy. So you're just as bad as him. Leave me alone. I don't want to ever see you again."

"_Alo, talk to me." Mumgabe was trying to coerce him out of the barn with food. It was the morning after Mini had gone to Australia, and he was still curled up in a ball, the position he had got into the moment he came back. Mini was gone. He'd done the most romantic thing he could've done... and she still left. _

_Maybe she didn't love him. Maybe he was a deluded loser and she'd been right all along. He was going to be working at this stupid farm all his life, never getting anywhere, and everyone would be ashamed of him. _

_**R – she left. She went to Australia. Where are you? I need my best friend. – A**_

_It sounded pathetic even as he was typing it, but Alo was desperate. The image of Mini walking away from him wouldn't leave his head. And the only way to get rid of it was a good smoke and a lot of alcohol. And to get completely fucked on his own was really the most pathetic thing to do._

_**A – it's 10 o'clock, mate. I'm in the library. – R**_

_Then Alo had a sudden realisation. Maybe if he focused on his school work Mini would come back. Maybe if she knew how hard he was trying to not be a loser, he'd get her back. She wouldn't be ashamed to be with him... _

_It was decided, then._

**A – why aren't you at work? You had a meeting this morning and he's here now, wondering where you are. I knew you moving out was a bad idea. You should be here, with the farm. – Ma**

**Ma – I can't come to work today. I'm sorry. – A x**

"_You okay? Not going to be sick or anything?" Mini stared out the window as the plane rose into the sky. Her dad was sat beside her, looking awkward and as if he'd rather be doing anything else rather than be with his pregnant teenage daughter._

"_It's okay, Gregory. You don't have to pretend to care." Her voice came out harsher than expected, but she didn't want him to think that she was delicate and easily broken. She was, but sometimes you had to pretend. "Let's be honest here. You were going to fuck off and leave, because you couldn't deal with the fact that I'm pregnant and you might actually have to have some responsibility."_

"_Mini..."_

"_Tell me that's not true." There was still a part of her that hoped he would. But he just looked away. Her coward of a dad. "And I'm only here because I need to get the fuck out of Bristol. If you hadn't been in my life I would've run away. Okay? So you're going to find me an apartment and pay my rent, and then I'm going to do all this on my own."_

_She plugged in her headphones and blocked him out for the rest of the flight._

"Mini, Grace isn't here. I dropped her round your- shit." Liv opened the door confusedly, but then understood when she saw the tears streaming down her best friend's cheeks. "What happened?"

"He's with Poppy!" She wailed in response. "The fucking bitch nearly put him in jail and he's with her! He cheated on her and..." The tears were coming too fast and thick for her speech to be coherent, so Mini just gave up and fell into her best friend's arms.

_As he stood in that prison cell, it dawned on Alo. He thought he was doing better... he thought he was going to become a better person and then when Mini came back (because the thought that she'd left for good was just too much to bear) she'd fall into his arms. But no. He was still the deluded loser that she'd refused to be with. He was still the deluded loser that had been deserted. Hell, even Rich was probably going to refuse to associate with him._

_Meeting Poppy at that Peter Pan party had seemed like fate. He'd been muttering on about Mini and how great everything used to be, and Rich had told him to move on... and there was this girl. Dressed as fucking Tinkerbell, giving him 'come fuck me' eyes. It just seemed too perfect. _

_And their day together in the woods had seemed too perfect. She'd laughed at all his jokes, made him feel wanted, and didn't seem like she was going to fuck him around._

_But she did. She was 13 years old. He'd fucked a 13 year old. Fuckity fuck fuck. Yet, even when it had all happened and he'd broken her heart at her party, he still never realised how badly this could all go. _

_But now he was in an empty cell, with nothing but time to think about how stupid he'd been. Of course Poppy had some flaw. Every girl was just screwed up. Maybe he should just become a monk... that is, if he ever got out of here._

"What are you doing here, Alo?" The hatred radiated from Liv as she opened the door to the ginger who had broken Mini's heart. She'd managed to get her best friend to stop crying enough to go to sleep, and that's where she had stayed for hours. She'd spoken to Frankie about it, who had come round with magazines and chocolate to help her feel better, but eventually Mini had to face the inevitable. She had to return home, where Alo probably would be, and she had to tell him to fuck off. In case he hadn't got the hint the first time.

It turned out that wasn't needed, as Alo was apparently giving Mini space. And had been for the past week. It was the day of Mini's mum's wedding, and Liv was just about to head over there with Franks. It was going to be like a girls reunion, and they were planning to go a bit wild. Well, Mini had to go early cause of Gracie, but apart from that, it was going to be like the old times. The best times.

"She won't answer my calls."

"Can you blame her? You didn't tell us you were still with Poppy." Frankie suddenly appeared behind Alo, practically shoving him out of the way to stand with Liv. "She put you in jail, Alo. Why the fuck are you with her?"

"Because Mini wasn't here. And I was lonely." Alo paused for a moment, and seemed to understand that this was not the route he wanted the conversation to go. "Look, Liv. I need to be at this wedding. I love Mini. I dumped Poppy, and I want to be with Mini. Properly this time."

"Did you dump her or did you get dumped because you're a cheating bastard?" Frankie wasn't budging on this, but Liv might.

"You have to understand, Liv. I didn't want her to get hurt... I never wanted that. I didn't know she knew about the Poppy shit and I didn't know what I wanted. But I want her. I love her. You know how that feels, to have this connection with someone and every person is telling you to stop. Everything is against you: time, distance, the situation... But you don't care. You have to be with them or you'll fucking die." Alo felt like he was rambling and Frankie was sticking her chin out at him defiantly, but he had things to say. "I shouldn't have done it, and just... tell her I'm sorry. And that I'll see her later, whether she likes it or not."

"_The thing about Peter Pan... he's a coward." The speech from earlier rattled through Alo's brain as he dialled those numbers. "He had the chance of a lifetime and he bottled it. Fucked off back to Neverland. All alone, for forever he was, by his own hand. Poor Wendy, she had to grow old without him."_

"_Mini, it's me. I don't know where the fuck you are or whether this is even your number anymore. But it's been months and I'm still waiting. I will always be waiting. Things here are... well, they're shit, if I'm honest. I fucked up and you're not here to take the piss out of me. I miss you. I love you. Come back, please?"_

_And then he'd been brave and he'd stood up for himself. It'd ended up with his face being battered and bruised, but... as he stared out at the stars... with his name cleared... all alone... he thought that maybe, just maybe... Mini would be proud of him. _

"Gracie, you're going to have to be a good girl today, you promise?" Mini swung her daughter around the room, giggling as she did. Liv had filled her in on what Alo had said, with Frankie chipping in with 'he's a dick' comments every few sentences, and Mini knew that she couldn't hide from this any longer.

"Liv, go get Alo. He can be your plus one for the wedding." She yelled down the stairs.

The truth had to come out eventually.

"_What do you mean, Alo's in prison?" Liv had called an emergency Skype chat, demanding that Mini get online, even though it was 2 o'clock in the morning where she was. _

"_He fucked a 13 year old. I don't know what's going to happen to him but I thought you should know."_

"_When did this happen?" Tears filled Mini's eyes as terror gripped her. The father of her unborn child was a paedophile. She was going to have a child and the dad was a child molester! Fuck. _

"_The other day. Frankie told me not to tell you, but..."_

"_And since when did you listen to Frankie? Fuck, Liv. I'm coming home." Mini needed to hear Alo's side of the story. She needed to look him in the eyes as he explained that it was all some big misunderstanding and that he still loved her and everything was going to be alright, he wasn't going to be in jail for much longer and-_

"_Babe, I'd love for you to be here, but you're not what Alo needs. He needs to sort this out on his own." _

_Perfect. _That's the only word that filled Alo's mind as he looked at her. Mini looked... perfect. She looked elegant, and beautiful, and mature, and just... perfect. And she was staring at him too, as if they weren't at her mother's wedding, as if it was just the two of them. Her expression said things that words couldn't.

Rich was sitting right beside him, and it had been great to see his best friend, but whatever things he was saying went straight over Alo's head because Mini was here, and Mini was looking at him, and he still had a chance, and Mini Mini Mini Miniminimini.

It was decided, therefore, that the second the ceremony was over Alo was going to storm over to her and kiss her and demand that she be his forever and ever.

Of course it didn't work out that way. Gracie was playing up, yelling and crying and just being a toddler in general. She didn't like her shoes, so they were off. She didn't like the flowers in her hair; they were thrown at Liv's face (who had been given responsibility of the ginger). She wanted her sweets, but they were the wrong ones, so they found their way to the floor. Liv was giving panic eyes to Mini, especially when Gracie started yelling for her mum.

Her mum was still looking at Alo, and her eyes didn't leave his, not even when the toddler they had made, with one final screech, flung herself at Mini's legs. "Shh, baby." Mini picked up her daughter and she immediately quietened.

"I was gonna tell you, mate..." Rich muttered, as Alo finally connected the dots. The reason Mini had left. The reason Mini freaked out so much about the Poppy thing. The reason Mini had brought her dad back. The reason why Mini disappeared for two years.

She had been pregnant.


	7. Chapter 7

"Don't you dare." Mini's mother spoke out of the corner of her mouth, knowing that her daughter was going to run after Alo. The ginger had looked like he'd seen a ghost, had practically fallen over everyone in his haste to get the fuck out of the church, and retching noises could be heard from outside.

She'd been impressed with Mini. All this time and Gracie was still alive. Mini had settled into motherhood, loving Gracie more than she loved anyone, and a million times more than she had loved her own mother. Shelley hadn't agreed with it in the beginning, finding out through a letter and then spending the next few months sending email after email, begging Mini to "sort it out" before it was too late.

But then eventually it was too late, so "sort it out" became "get the baby adopted." Until eventually a reply was received.

_Mum. I'm keeping her. – Mini_

It was so decisive and abrupt that Shelley had no choice but to listen to her daughter who was on the other side of the world. She, like Liv, had watched Gracie grow through Skype and photos and videos and whatever else, but it wasn't the same. As much as she wanted Mini to stay in Bristol, she knew that Australia had become her home. And therefore there was no point putting Alo through all this pain and anguish if Mini was only going to leave.

So even when Rich followed his best friend, and Liv followed Rich, and even Frankie followed them, Shelley shot her daughter a look that screamed "if you leave right now I will fucking murder you." It was her wedding, for God's sake. And Mini was the maid of honour and Mini was going to stay right there. At least for the next half hour.

...

"You all fucking knew, didn't you?" Reality hit Alo like a tonne of bricks. The shot of vodka (or was it two?) he'd downed the second he managed to stumble to the bar hadn't stopped the freaking out. His so called friends turning up, giving him looks of pity and apologies and Frankie was looking like a fucking bitch, hadn't helped at all. "Why the fuck didn't anyone tell me?"

"I tried, remember? She was right, she knew you'd be like this."

"_Alo, why the fuck didn't you try to stop her?" Frankie looked pissed off as she jumped onto the sofa. It had been a couple of months since Mini had left and her lesbian lover had chosen now to ask? Right now? Just when Alo had officially become a paedophile? Great timing._

"_Not now, Frankie. In fact, not ever. It's been months. Move on." He couldn't sum up the energy to get off the sofa though, knowing that moving from this spot would mean moving closer and closer into Hell. _

"_She says no when she really means yes." – "Sounds rapey." – "and going to Australia was her way of saying no. Mini needs you."_

"_She doesn't even like me. And she's in fucking Australia."_

"_Doesn't matter." A slap to the forehead. Pointless, but it still stung. "You have to get her back. So stop fucking it-"_

"_How am I fucking it?" Alo practically wanted to return the slap, Frankie was being so dense. "She's on the other side of the world, I'm here. She made her decision, now shut the fuck up because you know what? I really can't deal with this bullshit right now." _

"Like what? She just ruined my fucking life and you all helped her do it!" Rich, being the voice of reason, shh'd him, aware that they were still really close to the church. But Alo didn't really hear, he was tumbling down the pits of despair, sinking to the ground with a repeated muttering of "ohgod."

A small voice was telling him that it was all okay, that she was still Mini... but she wasn't. She'd lied and cheated him and now he was stuck with a kid that was two years old that he didn't want and she lied to him for years and a kid. A fucking kid.

Fuck.

...

"Alo!" Finally, after what had seemed like an age, the 'I do's were said and the register signed and confetti and shit like that, Mini managed to escape her duties. Gracie had been handed to one of Shelley's friends (she figured that this conversation was best had with both arms free) and the high heels slung off somewhere and Mini had called after the ginger.

The ginger who was unable to walk straight, but was somehow managing to stumble away from her at a fast rate. "Alo, would you fucking stop?" She yelled, but still he continued to increase the distance. It was only because he stepped into a hole in the ground (come on, it was Bristol. Did you really expect brilliant landscaping?) and fell to the floor that she managed to catch up with him.

"Alo, we have to talk about this." She was out of breath and he was still refusing to look at her. Frustration and anger ran through her as she grabbed his blazer and yanked him upright. "Fucking Hell, are you stupid or something?" He wasn't answering. "Real mature, Alo. I can't believe you are being this ridiculous right now." She knew inside that she was the one who was ridiculous and he was acting in a perfectly acceptable way. She was the one who had fucked up and now they were both having to deal with the consequences. Except, she'd had nearly 3 years to get used to the baby thing, he'd had an hour.

An hour in which he had managed to get incredibly off his face, which meant that the conversation should probably be had after the hangover tomorrow, but there was no fucking time. Too much time had been wasted and Gracie was 2 and fuck. "You know what? You're being dumb, and I will just fuck off and leave you alone. Fuck's sake, Farmboy."

It was the use of his nickname that made something inside of him react. Suddenly Alo was on his feet and yelling after her as she walked away. "At least I didn't fucking lie about my own daughter!"

"I did it to protect you!" She screamed back.

"You could have fucking told me at the fucking airport." He stopped yelling but his voice was still saturated in anger as he answered her. Maybe he was swearing too much but no other words seemed to accurately describe how he was feeling. "You said it wasn't that simple. This is what you meant. You could've told me and then-"

"And then what, Alo? You would have stayed with me? You would have been stuck with a girl who you only love because she was actually willing to fuck you."

He laughed, but there was no humour in it, only bitterness. "You think _that's _the only reason I loved you? You stopped fucking me, but I still kept fucking loving you. I waited for nearly 3 years-"

"Oh yeah, you're conveniently forgetting about your teeny bopper." She folded her arms as she stared him down, willing him to argue his way out of that.

"I didn't fucking love her. You know that. If you hadn't left I wouldn't have done anything with her. If you had just been fucking open-"

"You didn't fucking love me, Alo! You loved fucking me. I said that the first time. We were friends who fucked. I was never going to make you stay with me when you made it clear when I came round yours that you didn't want to feel anything for me anymore!" Tears sprung to her eyes as she remembered that night. This had all got so screwed up so quickly, but let's face it, it was always going to be messy.

"This isn't about Poppy. This isn't even about me loving you. This is about you lying to me. About a life! You had my daughter and I don't even know her name!" He was tired of this argument. In fact, he was tired of all of this. He'd come to the wedding to get Mini back and now he didn't even know who she was anymore. He was going to grab Rich, go home, and just try to forget all about it. Maybe it was all a horrible, horrible dream.

"Grace." She whispered as he pushed past her. "Her name is Grace."

"Don't suddenly pretend you care about her memory." He scornfully replied, aiming to hurt her.

He did.

...

That night, she couldn't sleep. She'd headed home soon after Alo, even though both Liv and Frankie had pleaded with her to stay out. Gracie was put to bed, and Mini decided that she may as well pack up all her shit. There was nothing here for her anymore.

But then she came across something that she wasn't expecting. A shirt that was scrumpled up at the back of her wardrobe. It was far too hideous to be hers, and far too big to be any of her friends... and then she remembered. And then she couldn't help herself from slipping it down and curling up in a ball on her bed.

"_You know, I never got that t-shirt back." He mumbled as they curled up one night after fucking. It was cold, that was the only reason why she let him stay. Boys ran at a higher temperature than girls, it was a scientific fact. "The one you stole in Morocco..." Alo nudged her when she didn't reply, but then he felt, rather than saw, her smile._

"_I have no idea what you're talking about. Like I would wear any of the hideous things you wear." She knew exactly where it was and he was never getting it back. It wasn't like she wore it when she was missing him or anything (not that she got much chance to miss him, he spent so much time around here), she just wanted it as a keepsake. Memory of when she was having a good time in Morocco. _

"_Oi. I was just going to say that you looked hot in it, so if you wanted to keep it... you could." He hoped that she hadn't thrown it away, but half expected her to have. But then she giggled, and the expectation changed. _

_He couldn't stop himself from feeling a little smug about this. She could claim that she wasn't interested in him at all, it was just because he was good at fucking her and satisfying her, but Mini McGuinness had kept one of his shirts. _

_Alo was the man._

That night, he couldn't sleep. The alcohol was no longer affecting him, and he couldn't be bothered to move from where he lay on his bed. How he'd managed to get up those stairs he had no idea, but now he was frozen with thoughts of Mini lying to him, of Mini having a fucking kid, of him being stuck with a child for the rest of his life. He was never going to get any other sex, now. He was stuck as a father. Oh god, his family were going to be so disappointed in him...

Somewhere along the way, though, the thoughts of hatred of Mini and worry about his parent's reactions and anger about being lied to and being trapped transformed into hatred of himself, for not being there for Mini, worry about what Grace would think of him, anger of the whole situation and how Mini had to go through the entire pregnancy on her own.

The first scan, alone.

The first prenatal class, alone.

Setting up the nursery, alone.

Her waters breaking, alone.

Hearing "congratulations, it's a girl", alone.

Fuck.


	8. Chapter 8

"Mini, what the-" It was 5am, the sun was hinting at its existence through the buildings and the clouds, and Mini McGuinness was standing at Alo's front door. They hadn't spoken since the wedding, though both had picked up the phone countless times, written a dozen text messages that were left unsent, even dialled the other's number... But the words were still very much unsaid between them.

"I couldn't sleep last night so I wrote you this." She had an envelope in her hands, he noticed. Let's face it, when Mini is in front of you it isn't her hands you look at first. It's her eyes, her freckles, her lips, her tits... then back to her face. "Here." She tried to shove it at him, but he couldn't stand the thought of reading it. He would no doubt shove it under a pile of paperwork, waiting until he was off his face again before attempting to absorb her words.

"No. You read it to me." His voice sounded hollow, even to his own ears. Nights of insomnia, of worry, of wondering how much of Grace's life he had missed, of wondering whether he even cared, of wondering if he could even bring himself to look at Mini the same way, had left him feeling empty and worn out and old. Was this what adulthood felt like? He wasn't even properly in his twenties yet...

If Mini was shocked at his request (though it was more like a demand), she didn't show it. She just cleared her throat and begun. "Dear Farmboy," eyes flicked up to see if he would smile at her using his nickname in a letter. He hadn't reacted. "By now I'm sure you've had way too much time to think about all of this. You've gone through everything I went through: denial, anger, hurt, shock, hatred... and maybe you're not at the accepting part yet. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you more than anything - wanted to have you by my side, holding my hand, hugging me tight. How soppy does that sound, especially coming from me?"

"The truth is, I was scared. I know you're probably thinking that I told everyone else, that everyone else knew about it apart from you - in fact, I can almost hear you making some pissed off comment as I write this. But I don't care what anyone else thinks. I don't care about Liv knowing, because she loves me regardless. I don't care about Franky knowing, because it's obvious she'll understand. I don't give a fuck about Nick, or Rich, or anyone else. I care what you think, that's why I didn't tell you."

A pause, in which Alo just wanted to hug her, if only to get rid of the expression on her face. She looked truly heartbroken, as if she was remembering all the things she had to do alone, and like she regretted every moment of it.

"I know I lied. I know I kept Grace from you. But I'm telling you now. You're a dad. You have a kid, and she's called Grace, and she's perfect. I love her more than anything else, and she's had a good life so far. And I don't know what to do, but-"

"Stop." Alo broke into her reading, not wanting to hear anything else. No matter what else was said in that letter, it didn't change anything. There wouldn't be a sorry, that much was clear. So if she wasn't going to say what he wanted, he definitely wasn't going to let her continue saying shit of no significance. "I don't think you understand how much you fucked everything up."

"I didn't impregnate myself, Alo!"

"Yeah, but you fucking lied. For years!" His voice was hoarse, and tears were in his eyes and fuck. Why was this all so fucking hard? "What is it, exactly, that you want me to do?" He couldn't go back and change the past. He couldn't go back and unimpregnate her, un-fuck her, un-fall for her. "You've been pretty clear about not needing my opinion until now, so..."

She'd managed the entire pregnancy on her own. She'd managed to give birth without anyone to encourage her. She'd managed to deal with the sleepless nights, the midnight feedings, everything. Yet now was the first time that she didn't know if it would all work out. "Just tell me it'll be okay... and it will be." Her voice shook. She wanted things to be okay. She wanted Alo to be okay, and for him to be with her to figure this all out. She wanted Grace to have an okay life, and she wanted to be happy for herself.

But instead of answering, Alo just gave her a look, as if she was the most foolish person in the world, and shut the door on her.

...

"Ring her!" Rich was practically screaming at his best friend as they stood in the old, now empty, barn. As far as he was concerned, Alo was being a prat. Yes, Mini lied. Yes, that was sucky. Sure, Alo wasn't mature enough to deal with a kid. But he loved her, and she wasn't as indifferent to him as Rich had originally assumed.

"I don't even know if I want to!" Alo was going through major confusion right now. On the one hand, he loved Mini. On the other hand, he didn't love her kid. He didn't love that she lied. And he didn't love that to love Mini would mean that he had to deal with all the responsibilities. If he rung her, he didn't know what he would say, what that would mean for them as a couple, whether it was the right thing to do or if he should just ignore her for a little while, waiting for the day that she eventually packed up and left.

"What? You said you could feel your ball sack ache every time you thought about her. You said you couldn't even wank because you felt so sad." Alo really wished that when he was drunk that barrier between his brain and his mouth didn't completely break down. He wished that Rich hadn't been there every night for the past 2 weeks when Alo had been too sad to function, instead finding refuge in a beer bottle. Or a vodka bottle. Or a whatever-was-left-in-the-shop bottle.

"I miss her, man! But her... as she was before. I don't want a baby - a kid, because I don't have a choice to have a baby because she lied!" Alo spoke the words that he should probably keep to himself. He didn't want a kid, but he wanted Mini. That much he was certain on.

"Sometimes... I think about what would've happened if me and Grace had had a baby." Rich still couldn't believe how much it hurt to talk about her, years later. He'd moved on, sure. He'd had girlfriends... but even though he loved them, the love couldn't compare to the feelings he had for the ballet dancer with a hidden metal side. He didn't like to open up about his first love, not even to his best friend. But desperate times call for desperate measures. "I loved Grace. More than anything else, ever. And you feel the same way about Mini, right?" The affirmative answer was all he listened to before continuing. "And you wanna be with her all the time, almost like... it hurts when you're not?" His voice broke a little on the last couple of words. Being here, in Bristol, where everything screamed Grace and the things they did together, just made this all so much harder. "You should be happy that you've got that chance. And the baby - the kid, sorry. Fuck it, you'll work it out."

...

Frankie couldn't believe that Mini was still here. She wasn't complaining, seeing as little Gracie was the most perfect thing ever (even though there was a 50% chance she would end up being a horrible excuse for a person like her father), but she was surprised. Alo had made it perfectly clear that they were done, and Mini hadn't been sad about it. Mainly because she hadn't seemed to realise that 2 weeks of no contact after spilling your heart out to a guy means that he's just not that into you.

That being said, apparently Alo changed his mind. Mini had let Frankie stay over the night, seeing as they'd stayed up late watching some crappy rom com, and it was now 9 am and Mini hadn't budged an inch. Gracie had been taken to nursery by Shelley, and the house was silent. Which is why Frankie managed to hear the vibrations of Mini's phone. And why she purposely moved the phone away from her best friend.

After all, Mini belonged in Australia. The relaxed aura had disappeared from around her head the moment she stepped foot in Bristol. Therefore if Mini thought that Alo didn't want her anymore, then she would leave. Which would be best for Gracie.

"It's me. I miss you and I want to work this out. All right? I'll do whatever it takes. We can do this together, Mins. I love you."

One answerphone message didn't erase the horrible things he'd said. It wouldn't make Mini forget that he'd ignored her for weeks. It wouldn't make Grace know her father. It wouldn't change anything.

But it wasn't Frankie's choice anymore, she remembered. This kid would be fine no matter what, and Mini would find a way to deal with it. So she got out her own phone and drafted a text.

**R - I'll be bringing Mins round to your boyfriend's later. Make sure he's in and not stoned or off his face, yeah? - F **

...

"You need to do something big." Rich couldn't remember why they had both woken up so early when neither of them had to work today, but he knew that Alo had taken the first step to endless happiness (with the life that Rich and Grace were supposed to have, not stoner Alo and head bitch Mini) and now he might actually get the rewards.

"Like what? Mini won't even pick up the phone." Alo looked so petulant and sulky that his best friend had to laugh.

"You've tried her once."

"Yeah, well... she didn't pick up."

"Whatever you do, text me when you decide. Make sure you don't fuck it up."

...

"Don't fuck it up, Mini." Both Frankie and Rich had been part of this plan, Mini realised. She hadn't a clue what was going on, all she knew was that she was now standing outside Alo's house. Alo's house that he had bought. Alo's house that just showed how fucking mature he'd tried to be over the years that she hadn't been a part of his life, whereas Mini still felt like she was that insecure and unloved 17 year old.

But the 17 year old girl wouldn't have let herself be dragged out of her room by Frankie. The 17 year old girl would have ran away from the shot at happiness. The 20 year old girl knocked on Alo's front door gingerly. The 20 year old girl had accepted that she was in love with a guy that was definitely not her type. The 20 year old girl had realised that in order to give her daughter the best life... the life she deserved, she would have to take a chance.

The door didn't get answered, but one look back at Rich told her that she should go in anyway. He knew what was happening, and he seemed to have warmed up to her - if only because she had given birth to Alo's child - so go in she did, only to hear thumps and swear words and unidentifiable noises. Following them led her to what had been Alo's study (he'd found time to give her a tour of his abode - but when, she couldn't quite recall)... except now it wasn't.

The ginger was knelt on the floor, bit of wood and nails all around him... and a half built bed in front of him. "What the fuck are you doing?" She asked, though there was nothing but warmth and affection behind it. He'd looked up and grinned at her, though first giving her a weird stare that made her feel self conscious.

"This is the nursery." He'd gestured, and Mini felt a wave of relief crash over her. He'd stood up and stepped towards her. "And we'll put in a bathroom downstairs just for me, right next to the toilet... so we can chat while you cook - or while I cook or - yeah, because that way we could have a shit toilet and a piss toilet." He paused. "Or not, we could keep the size of the lounge area, if you want. Whatever you decide." Another pause, and Mini felt like she might explode with happiness. "And I know it's not stylish, and I know it's not Australia so it's probably cold to you, and I know it smells like old people, but I can fix it, or we can try and get some other place, or -"

She didn't even think before doing what she did next, which was grabbing his face and pulling it to hers, kissing him to explain all the feelings that she couldn't be coherent about, all the joy and the relief and the forgiveness and the love. Definitely the love. She kissed him like she had always wanted to, now that she didn't have to pretend it was just for the sex. She was kissed like she had always wanted to be kissed, like she was the heroine and he was the hero and he'd just saved her and now they were going to live happily ever after.

That night, when they were laying on his bed, her thighs aching from all the fucking, she'd whispered how she felt about him. But only because he was asleep. As much as she wanted to believe that his feelings hadn't changed, and although she knew that he definitely had feelings for her, she couldn't - she wouldn't - say them first.

**Mins, you need to call home. Like now. - F**

**Mins, where r u? Call your mum. - L x**

**M - It's your dad. I've booked you on the 9 o'clock back to Australia. I'll look after Gracie for you but you need to get home right away. - Mum x**

Fear building up in her again, and with shaking hands, Mini crept out of Alo's house and rung for a taxi to take her home.


	9. Chapter 9

"I got that degree so you'd be impressed by me. I made the farm successful so that you wouldn't be ashamed to call me your boyfriend. I told myself that I was doing it for me, that I was making my future the best it could be, but you were right. I am a deluded loser, because I did everything for you!" He was gripping her so tightly it nearly hurt, eyes wide due to lack of sleep, hair arranged by the bed in tufts that made him look adorable. He'd woken up at 8 to an empty bed, and assumed the worst. Mini had left him before, she'd left without a goodbye before, and he assumed that this time was no different.

When he'd charged over to her house, she'd found a worried looking Shelley, who informed him that Mini was currently a few thousand feet up in the air. And still, Alo decided to try and make it to the airport. Even though her flight should be leaving any minute. Even though his attempt could be futile, he had to make it anyway.

"Alo, I have to go." Mini whispered back, unshed tears in her eyes at the thought of what might await her when she got home. She'd ignored all his calls this morning, knowing that saying goodbye would be too hard. Just like before, though she was unsure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, her flight had been delayed, and Alo had managed to catch up with her. "Alo, it's my dad. You know I'd never forgive myself if I didn't get to say goodbye-"

"Mins, he hasn't been a part of your life. Not really. He took you to Australia and then barely contacted you. He probably doesn't know what Gracie looks like, and..." he trailed off as for once he finally understood what was going on in her head. "But he's your dad and you love him."

"I have to get on my plane. I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer."

As he watched her walk away, he knew that he had to ask. Just this once. Even if the answer wasn't what he wanted to hear, even if it broke his heart all over again, even if she was still going to be ridiculous and deny everything... he just needed to ask. "Why did you keep her?" He called after the love of his life, taking one last shot at getting her forever.

"You could've got rid of her and none of this would've even happened. You would've stayed in Bristol, you wouldn't have got in contact with your dad, we would've carried on fucking as per usual..." She was the one staring at him now, eyes wide and a faint smile on her lips.

"You are so fucking dumb, farmboy." She was grinning now, as if she had just realised something. And that just made Alo realise what she meant.

"It's because you... love me?" He laughed at it, and his smile could break his face it was so wide. "You love me."

Even though it was the truth, she still turned and walked away, gesturing with her hands that she had to. But now Alo knew that their love was mutual, that he hadn't waited around for years for something that would never happen, he didn't hesitate in running to the ticket booth and booking himself on the next flight to Australia. He needed to hear those words from her lips and he needed to kiss her and he needed to make sure that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

...

"Marry me." Alo recognised her curly blonde hair from a mile away (or rather, from the car park where she was currently standing), and had to control himself to keep from running to her at lightning speed.

"Alo?" She whipped her head around, mouth falling open and eyes wide. He'd checked with Mini's mother, and Gregory was going to be fine. He'd had a mini heart attack but as long as he was careful, he wouldn't suffer any serious, life-altering consequences. So now wasn't a bad time to propose. It wasn't the most romantic of proposal locations, unless you considered the fact that he had travelled across the world to get to her, and waited years and years for her to say that she loved him too.

"Say you love me and marry me." She was already preparing herself to say no, so he just continued talking. "We have a kid. A kid who I'm going to love as much as I love you. You kept her because you couldn't bear the thought of saying goodbye to something that was made up of me and you. The sex is fantastic, that's obvious. I satisfy you better than anyone else ever could. And more importantly... we love each other."

"Alo..." She was smiling, but not in a 'oh gosh I love Alo so much and he's about to realise that' way, like she had at the airport. No, this smile was a 'I can't believe I'm going to have to break his heart again' smile.

"Don't do this, Mini. Just say you love me and then marry me and we can live happily ever after. You, me, and little Gracie. That's why you kissed me the other night, right? Because you want what I was telling you about. You want us... under the same roof... all that love in one household... you want Gracie to have the life that you never did..." and then she mouthed the words. "What was that? You're going to have to speak up..."

"I love you, you arse!" And then she was in his arms and they were kissing and Alo could die from the happiness he felt.

The best thing was, he knew she felt it too.

...


	10. Chapter 10

"Sweetie, you need to promise me something, okay?" Mini crouched down to get face to face with her daughter. Her daughter with the bright red hair and the shining eyes that refused to focus on anything and the toothy grin. "You're meeting your dad today, and can you promise to be on your best behaviour?"

Mini had realised that getting engaged to Alo wasn't as simple as putting a ring on her finger. She'd realised this on the plane journey home, holding hands with her fiancé. In the few days that they'd spent in Australia, she'd packed up the rest of her belongings, cancelled her flat contract and quit her job officially (rather than just taking extended leave). The ring on her finger made her smile every time it reflected the light, and then she would laugh when she remembered how Alo had been a complete idiot when it came to actually making it official.

So she'd pushed aside any worries she had, keeping herself busy and keeping Alo busy in the process. But now they were going to their home, where Alo would have to deal with being a father to a child he had never officially met, only having seen glimpses of her when he was going from one place to another. "You don't have to have us both move in, you know." She'd blurted out, before assessing herself and shaking her head. "I mean, I know it's a big thing to get a toddler and a soon-to-be wife-"

"Oh, it's soon-to-be, is it? Are you that desperate to marry me, Minerva?" He'd smirked at her, leaning in for a kiss. But she refused to allow herself to get distracted, no matter how talented those lips were.

"I'm just saying that we can take it a little slower... You can officially meet Gracie and spend some time with her and then we'll see what she thinks of you. Because she's my priority and... well, maybe taking it slow is the best plan." As decisive as she may be, all willingness to argue was thrown out the window when Alo began to trace patterns on her palm. How could it be that he had this much of an effect on her, even now?

"Gracie is going to love me, I know it. And I really don't think taking it slow is an option..." And then those lips were on hers again and Mini felt her brain growing fuzzy.

"Farmboy..." she groaned, hating him for teasing her like this when she was on a plane with no hope of climbing onto his lap and letting him have his way with her, and especially when she was trying to do the grown up thing and be responsible. In the end, though, she gave up and let him tease her. And when they landed, she did some teasing of her own, getting him all riled up in the taxi before making them go their separate ways. She needed to spend some quality time with her daughter.

So it had been a few days since she'd seen him, a few days since she walked in to her living room and saw her mum and stepdad, held up her left hand and given them the big news, unsure whether they would react with joy or disappointment, happiness or sadness. But, by the shrieks they let out and the way she was crushed into a hug... it was the former. They were ecstatic for her.

And she'd wanted to see Alo, she'd wanted to wake up next to him, she'd wanted to bring him to consciousness with her lips on his, she'd wanted to fall asleep with him by her side, having spent the day with him... but there had been other things to sort out. Family things and whatnot.

"Okay." Her baby girl gurgled, and Mini had laughed. She'd been speaking for months now and yet the sound of her voice filled her with such joy. This was her baby. Hers and Alo's. It was then that she heard the doorbell go, and Mini picked up her daughter, grabbed her bag, and headed down the stairs, flinging open the door and laughing again as she saw the expression on her fiancé's face.

"I, er... I wasn't sure what to bring, so..." He motioned to the bunch of flowers in his hands, violets for Mini (they had been her favourite ever since the original Grace) and a sunflower for his daughter.

"Gracie, do you know who this is?" Eyes wide, the ginger stared at Alo, a small smile forming on her face at his hair. "This is your dad!" And that was all it took for Gracie to grin and hold out her arms, wanting to be held by this new person rather than her boring old mum.

...

"We have some big news..." Mini and Alo and Gracie wandered in to where all their friends were gathered. Everyone was either going back to uni or back to their lives in a few days and it was important that this came out now. But before the news broke, Mini smiled as she noticed that Frankie and Nick were curled up around each other. While she'd been at the hospital, making sure her dad was okay, Nick had been confessing his love for her - his real, not brought about from jealousy, love. And Frankie had realised that she was in a safe enough head space to be with someone again. She noticed that Rich was smiling at her, a genuine smile rather than the tense upturn of lips that she was usually greeted by - she guessed that he'd finally realised how much she loved Alo and how she never wanted to fuck him around again. She noticed how Alex was there with Liv, even though Alex had never been really part of the group (though, she'd stopped being part of the group years ago), and how it didn't bother her that Liv hadn't spent all her time pining over their lost friendship.

For once, everyone seemed to have worked out where they were supposed to be and who they were meant to be with.

Her daughter's fidgeting brought Mini back to present day and she blinked, snapping out of her trance and delivering the news with a grin. "We're getting married!"

There was a moment of silence, everyone looking from Mini's grinning face to Alo's happy one and back again. And then uproar, where everybody jumped up and the whole group hugged, every single one of them yelling over each other to try and demand the whole story.

...

"You're going to go to sleep now, aren't you?" Alo smiled at his daughter, her eyes half shut and a sleepy smile on her face. They'd been living together for a month now, and tonight was the first time that he'd put her to sleep by himself, Mini having had her first day at work (on some set with a few models and a bucket load of makeup). And Gracie hadn't made it easy for him, claiming that she was given chocolate before every bed time and Mummy always did this and that and various other ridiculous demands. But finally, she was dozing off.

And unbeknown to Alo, Mini had just walked in and was currently watching the exchange from the hallway. "I just want you to know that I love you. A lot." He kissed his daughter's forehead, and Mini thought her heart would explode. This is what she'd always been worried about when it came to this baby... probably the main reason that she kept away for so long. Her dad had never loved her. He'd wanted to, and he'd even tried to over the past few years... but he never could. You can't force love if it's not there in the first place. And it had torn her up inside to imagine him being forced to spend time with a kid that was 50% his but that he felt nothing but mild affection for. And she loved Alo (though back then she would never admit it to anyone, much less herself), and she would never, ever put him through that. It would have broken her. But here he was, loving this child that he'd only known for a month, loving her even though she'd lied to him, and still managing to love himself for creating something so perfect.

So although she didn't want to ruin the moment, she walked in and hugged him from behind. "I don't love your mum though, she's too irritating."

"Shut up, Farmboy." She laughed, leaning up and brushing her lips against his neck. "I was just going to get us a nightcap. I figure we should find a way to celebrate my first, successful day at work?" Her tone of voice made it impossible to not understand what she was implying, and Alo smirked, turning around and capturing her lips with his, and gently pushing her back towards the door. The things he wanted to do to her were definitely not appropriate around a toddler. Especially not _their _toddler.

...

**A/N: It's been a while, dear readers. I wasn't even planning on updating, but I'm trying to keep myself really busy in 2013 and therefore... this is continuing, even though skins is over. Keep reading and even if you don't review, I love you as much as I love Malo.**


	11. Chapter 11

"I want to make it special." He murmured against her neck, in response to her desperately trying to get his trousers off. They'd hardly had any time to themselves for ages, what with his job and her search for a job and the fact that their child was an absolute nightmare sometimes (and yet still ended up looking cute while throwing a tantrum) and moving in and everything. So now that Gracie was in bed and it was the weekend, there was absolutely nothing stopping them from taking their time.

Mini didn't seem to like that idea, her hands still fumbling with his belt. "Hey, hey..." He tried again to stop her, but then he caught her eye and saw her expression: teeth biting on her lower lip and looking like a girl who had been caught, but still wanted to be naughty. And he lost all self control, kissing her furiously and pushing her down onto their bed.

But he still tried to make it special. Every single time a piece of clothing was removed, from her blouse to her bra, he would lavish attention onto the skin revealed. And he would only remove the next piece when she was practically begging him to. Nobody could ever insult his self control when it came to Mini, as he throbbed painfully in his boxers, while she have wave after wave of orgasm hit her as a result of the attentions of his tongue, of his fingers.

"Alo, pl-please." She moaned brokenly, fingers clutching at the bed sheets, calves resting on his shoulders as he tasted her pleasure. She didn't think she could handle one more second of this delicious torture, and luckily her boyfriend accepted her white flag, smirking as he made his way back up her body. After a quick rest, where the only contact was where their hands were held and where they kissed slowly, softly... sweetly, Mini returned the smirk. "My turn."

A few minutes later and Alo swore that he would never ever tease her again. He would never try to make it special because the punishment was just too great. His hands were tied together at the top of the bed (because Mini got cross with him every time he tried to stop her from being such a tease), and he was completely at her mercy. And she was taking full advantage of that, refusing to suck him for the time needed for him to cum, removing her mouth with a heavenly pop every time he was even remotely close. There was a tightness in his balls as he realised just how much he needed to be buried inside of her.

"Mini..." He whined, and the grin on his fiancé's face grew wider. "Mini, I'm serious." He struggled against the restraints in his desperation. "Fuck." She giggled, before straddling him and gliding him into her. "Jesus. I warn you, I'm not gonna last long." As she leant up to untie him, he captured one of her tits with his mouth.

"That's good then, because neither am I." She kissed him, hard and forceful, and he succumbed to that pleasure.

...

Hours later, they both drifted back into consciousness. Her thighs felt sticky and achy, but the smile on her face said she didn't care. "I love you." He murmured, lightly kissing her hair. She let her heart swell, before saying the words back to him. After saying it the first time, it had only got easier. She'd let him in and he would never hurt her. Because that's what love was.

Which is why she had to tell the truth.

"I almost lost her, you know." She whispered, her brain taking her back to that very night. She felt Alo's body freeze next to her, though his arms tightened possessively. Just like always, he kept silent, knowing that the story would come if and when she was ready to tell it.

...

_It was about a week before the baby's due date, and Mini had just finished talking to Liv. She'd smiled even though she wasn't feeling right. It wasn't that she was feeling queasy, or ill... she just knew something was wrong. She decided to ignore it, however, knowing that she'd be fine. She'd eaten enough today and it was probably just the baby growing or moving about or something._

_Or maybe it was emotional issues making her feel odd. It had been 6 months almost exactly since she'd last seen Alo... since he'd told her she didn't know how to love anything, but still thought that she loved him. He'd hurt her, and she'd hurt him, and that was why she had refused to turn on her phone since then (choosing instead to buy a crappy pay as you go one the moment she landed in Australia). To tell the truth she wasn't even sure if it even still worked... _

_No time like the present, she thought, fishing it out of her drawer and holding down the button. As it sprung into life, she felt her stomach twist. She gasped out in pain, clutching her bump and squeezing her eyes shut until it subsided._

_But there were the text messages to distract her:_

_**I'm out with Liv and Alex and its great and I love it so there**_

_**I lied. Im drunk and its horrible and no girl wants to talk to me and I want u to do that thing u do right now but u hate me cos im shit and ur amazing and I dunno how I fucked this up but I did and now im fucked up forever because all I want is u**_

_**soz that last bit was meant to read *2 be in u**_

_Looking at the dates told her that this was a few weeks before the incident, where Liv had known all about their arrangement and had purposely told all the girls that Alo had Chlamydia. Mini had told her that she didn't have to do that, but had secretly been glad. She wasn't sure she could cope with the idea that the father of her unborn child was successfully slagging around._

"_Mini, it's me. I don't know where the fuck you are or whether this is even your number anymore. But it's been months and I'm still waiting. I will always be waiting. Things here are... well, they're shit, if I'm honest. I fucked up and you're not here to take the piss out of me. I miss you. I love you. Come back, please?"_

_As she listened to the voice message of a few months ago, she realised that she'd messed up. Coming to Australia had been the most cowardly thing she would ever do. But there was no going back now. She couldn't even bring herself to email him after hearing about the incident with the pre-teen, every email ending up insulting him and calling him a child molester and congratulating him on finding someone with the same mental age as himself. Then, when the charges had been cleared, she tried writing him an email to joke about it, to tell him it was impressive how much he had managed to screw up. But then it came out wrong and didn't read as humour, it read as judgement._

_So she never sent anything, but now she was faced with just how much he had missed her. She was a week away from giving birth, a week away from officially becoming a mother, and she was terrified. And he was on the other side of the world and-_

_any thoughts that she could've had were thrown out the window as she felt that feeling that usually told her that her period had started. And, as she checked... it had. Tears sprung to her eyes as she desperately prayed to every God that she didn't believe in that it would all end up okay._

_"Hello? Hi, I'm pregnant but I'm bleeding and I need an ambulance right away." Her voice was shaking and yet Mini somehow managed to give her details. She slid off the chair and curled up on the floor, instinctively dialling the number that had got her through so much shit before._

_"Gracie?"_

_But there was nobody there. And there never would be again._

_..._

Tears were streaming down her cheeks as Mini hastily finished the story. "Anyway, the ambulance turned up and I was in hospital until I gave birth. My dad didn't visit me, my mum didn't know... I never told anyone that."

"But you're telling me." She felt him smile a little as he reassuringly stroked her hand where theirs were together. "And she was fine."

"But what if she hadn't been?" Mini was now practically hysterical, her voice shaking as she thought about what could have happened. "It would have been all my fault because I refused to accept that I was pregnant. I drank, and I went clubbing, and I was so stupid and I would have let her die without so much as a hint of regret."

"But you didn't." He murmured, turning her to face him and kissing her slowly. "You can't hold onto this guilt. You messed up. I've messed up in the past. But you're here with me. And we have a gorgeous daughter. And that's all that matters." And he kept repeating those 8 letters, those 3 words, until she fell asleep, eyes still leaking.

...


	12. Chapter 12

"Who would've thought, eh?" Mini raised her glass of champagne in response to Liv. "The skinny bitch getting married to Farmboy." She giggled, the alcohol having gone straight to her head. Gracie had been sent to stay with Shelley for the night, leaving her to just enjoy being completely irresponsible. "The girl who refused to have sex for 17 years-" That was met with an indignant noise. "Bitch, come on. You had boys at your feet, desperate for something. And you ended up with the guy that was just supposed to be your fuck buddy." They all burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation, but Mini wouldn't have it any other way.

...

"Let's go out, man!" Nick was already pissed. Not surprising, considering he'd been drinking straight vodka since about 6 in the evening and it was now 10. Alo was shocked, however, that he hadn't started puking his guts out, but wasn't complaining. He didn't want to be spending any time in the next 24 hours with a cloth and a bin bag in his hands.

So they went to a club, all of them desperately pretending they were sober enough to be allowed in (some of them failing and being forced to go to the back of the queue and try again in 20 minutes), all of them refusing to buy a drink at the bar (as Nick stated, "look, man, the only reason people go to the bar is to scope out the chicks. I'm taken, you're taken, Rich hates all the girls in here and we're on a lad's night out. So let's just have some fun!" Alo couldn't help himself from agreeing, making his way to the middle of the floor and dancing his fucking heart out.)

...

"Alo, hi..." She laughed when she realised he hadn't even picked up yet. And that she was drunk dialling her almost-husband. But then the answerphone kicked in and even though both Liv and Frankie were scrambling at the phone to stop Mini from saying something she might regret when she sobered up, her height became a blessing. "Alo, my lovely. Hi. We are very, very sober. Like so sober you would not believe. And I just thought I would ring you to say that I love you quite a lot. And..." She paused to smirk at her best friends. "Liv and Frankie are totally up for having an orgy with us one-" She didn't manage to finish the sentence, her body falling down from the sofa she had perched on top of, her friends screeching out denials.

She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard. And, considering the amount she had drunk (champagne had been relegated in favour of the stronger choice, vodka), she probably wouldn't remember.

...

He tried calling her back when they stumbled out the club, all of them rowdier than when they had gone in and somehow still just as drunk. At first he couldn't even unlock his phone, fingers feeling fat and clumsy. Then he couldn't find her number, and then he had to listen to her message, and then he eventually managed to press the correct buttons.

She didn't pick up, and his still-slightly-immature brain hoped that she was indeed having some sort of cliched sleepover experience.

With pillow fights.

...

His last spliff as a single man. There was something incredibly satisfying about that, Alo realised. The night had faded, the lads had all gone their separate ways, even if the ginger was pretty sure he would find a couple of them in the bushes outside. The only ones left were Rich and he, and that was how it should be. Him and his best friend. "This time tomorrow you'll be a married man with a proper missus."

"Yeah... got no problem with that." He smirked, unable to stop his glee. His teenage years had been one rejection after another, and his young adult years had been focused on work and being successful. Now he was getting into proper adulthood and he was going to have a girl by his side and a daughter throughout the whole of it. "I mean, she really fucking loves me. How bad could it be?"

"We did it, Alo. We made something of ourselves, we lost our virginities before it became embarrassing to still be ones, we fell in love... and let's face it, we had a pretty damn good time." Rich took the spliff from him and took a hit from it, the best friends sharing a secret smile. Even though Rich had lost his first love, that didn't stop him from being happy that Alo had found it. For good.

"That we did, man." Alo grinned, thinking of everything that had happened. "That we did."

...


End file.
